Abortion

Lord Rooker: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what information they hold regarding the number of neural tube defect-affected pregnancies leading to terminations, at the latest convenient date.

Earl Howe: In 2012, for residents of England and Wales, there were 390 abortions where neural tube defect was given as the primary diagnosis of the foetus reported under Ground E (that there is a substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped). The breakdown was; Anencephaly (ICD10 Code Q00) 208 cases; Encephalocele (LCD 10 Code Q01) 33 cases, and Spina Bifida (ICD10 Code Q05) 149 cases.
	In addition, there are cases where a neural tube defect is reported along with other medical conditions given under Ground E, and here there were 422 cases. The breakdown was; Anencephaly (ICD10 Code Q00) 216 cases; Encephalocele (ICD 10 Code Q01) 39 cases, and Spina Bifida (ICD10 Code Q05) 167 cases.

Agriculture: Pesticides

Lord Willoughby de Broke: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how science-based field tests on the effect of neonicotinoids pesticides on bees will be carried out following the suspension of the use of neonicotinoids in the European Union from 1 June 2014.

Lord De Mauley: The restrictions on the three neonicotinoid insecticides covered by Regulation 485/2013 apply from 1 December 2013, with the Commission providing for a review in 2015. Authorisations for experimental field trials will be possible while the restrictions are in place. Pesticide companies may generate new studies, taking account of the data requirements set out in the EU pesticides regime and any further changes to these. The Government, in consultation with independent experts, is considering additional research, including field studies. We would expect the outcome of the Commission’s review 2015 to take appropriate account of any new evidence.

Agriculture: Pesticides

Lord Willoughby de Broke: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Pesticides Advisory Committee supports the suspension of the use of neonicotinoid pesticides in the United Kingdom.

Lord De Mauley: The independent Advisory Committee on Pesticides (ACP) has considered the evidence on neonicotinoid insecticides on a number of occasions. Following its meeting on 29 January 2013 the Committee advised that there were grounds for a review of neonicotinoid authorisations under the pesticides legislation, and officials in the Health and Safety Executive's Chemicals Regulation Directorate (the UK pesticides regulatory body) have started this work. The detailed record of the ACP’s discussions can be found on its website at:
	http://www.pesticides.gov.uk/guidance/industries/pesticides/advisory-groups/acp/acp-detailed-record-of-discussion/ACP-359-29-January-2013-Detailed-Record-of-Discussion.htm
	The ACP provided further advice following their meeting in March. Again, this is available on its website.
	The ACP did not advise that there was a need to restrict current authorisations of products containing neonicotinoids.

Air Pollution

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they plan (1) to publish for every local authority area in England the number of deaths attributable to exposure to annual mean PM2.5 particulate matter and the resulting years of life lost, as recommended by the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants, and (2) to update those figures and the attributable fraction for 2011 and 2012.

Earl Howe: Public Health England (PHE) intends to publish estimates of mortality from long term exposure to particulate air pollution (annual mean PM2.5) in 2010 for all unitary, upper and lower tier local authorities in the United Kingdom in terms of attributable deaths and associated years of life lost, as recommended by the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP). This report is currently undergoing an internal review process and is expected to be published later this year after completion of the review process.
	PHE is not currently planning to update the figures of attributable deaths and years of life lost for 2011 and 2012. However, PHE will publish annually estimates of the fraction of mortality attributable to long-term exposure to particulate air pollution for all upper tier and unitary authorities in England, as one of the indicators within the Public Health Outcomes Framework for England. PHE will also publish guidance for local authorities that may wish to generate their own mortality burden estimates.

Air Pollution

Viscount Ridley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many micrograms per cubic metre of air of small particulates PM2.5 they expect to originate in 2020 from emissions from biomass combustion in the industrial generation
	of electricity and in domestic use, excluding any deduction from the gross total for emissions from fuels displaced by biomass.

Lord De Mauley: Emissions of particles from biomass electricity generation are estimated to contribute 0.00096 micrograms of small particulates (particulate matter up to 2.5 micrometres in size, or PM2.5) per cubic metre of air (micrograms/m3) to the total population-weighted mean concentration of PM2.5 in the UK in 2020 of 9.47 micrograms/m3.
	Biomass combustion is expected to increase in the domestic sector when the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme is extended to domestic boilers in spring 2014. However, the domestic scheme is aimed at off-gas grid users and substitutes some coal and oil use, therefore the dispersion model estimates an overall net decrease in the population weighted mean PM2.5 concentration of 0.0005 micrograms/m3 in 2020. As the model results are based on spatially mapped net emissions data, it is not possible to estimate the change in concentrations arising from biomass combustion alone.
	Wood burning emissions from domestic heating outside the RHI scheme, such as open fires and stoves, are projected to contribute 0.209 microgram/m3 of PM2.5to the population weighted mean UK PM2.5 concentration in 2020.

Armed Forces: Defence Budget

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Astor of Hever on 11 June (WA 224) and 22 July (WA 160), whether there was any underspend in 2010–11 in the Ministry of Defence.

Lord Astor of Hever: In 2010-11, there was no underspend against the core defence budget (in near-cash terms).

Bank of England

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills’ comments describing Bank of England officials as “capital Taliban”, they have any plans to review the performance and competence of the Bank and the Prudential Regulatory Authority.

Lord Deighton: The Financial Services Act 2012 introduced a new system of financial services regulation effective
	from 1 April 2013. The Government has no plans to review the performance and competence of the Bank and the PRA at this stage.

Banking

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have assessed whether capital shortfalls have limited the capacity of United Kingdom banks to support the credit needs of United Kingdom borrowers.

Lord Deighton: UK banks, building societies and credit unions are regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). In March, the interim Financial Policy Committee (FPC) made a series of recommendations to strengthen the resilience of major UK banks and building societies On 20 June, the PRA provided an update on progress in implementing these recommendations.
	Consistent with the FPC recommendations, the PRA has asked firms to ensure that all plans to address shortfalls do not reduce lending to the real economy.
	The Government does not comment on specific recommendations for and by the FPC or the PRA, nor in relation to specific institutions.

Banking: Capital Leverage

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have been lobbied, at ministerial or official level, by or on behalf of Nationwide on the matter of capital leverage targets; and whether they subsequently communicated on that matter with the Prudential Regulatory Authority.

Lord Deighton: Treasury Ministers and officials meet with, and receive representations from, a wide range of organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Treasury's practice to provide details of all such representations.

Banking: Capital Leverage

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether ministers or officials of HM Treasury have lobbied the Bank of England or the Prudential Regulatory Authority on behalf of the Nationwide Building Society in respect of capital leverage.

Lord Deighton: Treasury Ministers and officials meet with, and receive representations from, a wide range of organisations and individuals in the public
	and private sectors. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Treasury's practice to provide details of all such representations.

Banking: Capital Leverage

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether bank capital leverage targets are set, in amount and time to comply, by HM Treasury or the Bank of England or the Prudential Regulatory Authority; and who is responsible for monitoring compliance.

Lord Deighton: Bank capital leverage targets are set by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). The PRA is also responsible for monitoring compliance.

Benefits

Baroness Brinton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people with rheumatoid arthritis (1) applied for Disability Living Allowance, and (2) were awarded Disability Living Allowance, in each of the last five years.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people with rheumatoid arthritis were awarded (1) the higher rate mobility component, and (2) the lower rate mobility component, of Disability Living Allowance in each of the last five years.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people with rheumatoid arthritis have been in receipt of a motability vehicle in each of the last five years.

Lord Freud: Data on numbers of people in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA), in each of the last five years, can be found at:
	http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/tabtool.html (guidance on how to use the tab tool is at the bottom of the front page.)
	Data on numbers of those who applied for Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and were subsequently awarded is not available and to obtain it would be at disproportionate cost.
	Data on numbers of people with rheumatoid arthritis in receipt of the higher-rate mobility component and lower-rate mobility component of DLA, in the last five years, is as follows:
	
		
			 Date Total with higher mobility rate Total with lower mobility rate Total with nil rate 
			 Nov-08 452,110 8,540 63,270 
			 Nov-09 399,790 6,980 53,750 
			 Nov-10 358,400 5,840 47,000 
			 Nov-11 331,070 5,230 43,300 
			 Nov-12 307,820 4,780 40,180 
		
	
	Source: DWP Information Governance and Security: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
	2. Totals show numbers of people in receipt of an allowance and excludes cases where the payment has been suspended, e.g. if they are in hospital.
	3. A diagnosed medical condition does not mean that someone is automatically entitled to DLA. Entitlement is dependent on an assessment of how much help someone needs with personal care and/or mobility because of their disability. These statistics are only collected for administrative purposes.
	4. DLA care and mobility components can be paid together or on their own. The nil payment column is where the claimant is in receipt of the care component and not the mobility component.
	The Department does not hold information on the numbers of Motability customers with rheumatoid arthritis. This information may be held by the Motability scheme and you can write to them at the following address:
	The Director,
	Motability,Warwick House,Roydon Road, Harlow,EssexCM19 5PX

Benefits: Motability Scheme

Baroness Gardner of Parkes: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will permit individuals with a Motability vehicle to retain that vehicle until the outcome of any appeal relating to their participation in the Motability scheme is determined.

Lord Freud: Motability is an independent charitable organisation, wholly responsible for the administration of the Motability scheme. Questions relating to scheme policy on withdrawal of vehicles should be directed to Motability and can be sent to: Declan O’Mahony, Director, Motability, Warwick House, Roydon Road, Harlow, Essex CM19 SPX.

Burma

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what export control licences have been granted for goods to Burma in the last five years.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: Information on arms exports is published in the Annual and Quarterly Reports on Strategic Export Controls. These reports contain detailed information on export licences issued, refused or revoked, by destination, including the overall value, type (eg Military, Other) and a summary of the items covered by the licences.
	They are available to view on the Strategic Export Controls Reports and Statistics Website at: https://www.exportcontroldb.bis.gov.uk/eng/fox.
	By registering on the website it is possible to create your own bespoke reports by country.
	The reports currently available provide information up to 31 March 2013. Information covering the next quarterly period to be published, 1 April 2013 to 30 June 2013, is due to be published in the first week of October.

Children and Families Bill

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessments they have made of the cost of investigating complaints about education, health and care assessments under (1) the proposals set out in the Children and Families Bill, and (2) a single point of appeal and redress conducted by the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal.

Lord Nash: The Government published an assessment of the impact to help with Parliamentary scrutiny of clauses in the Children and Families Bill that relate to special educational needs. The “Appeals and Mediation” section focuses on special educational needs appeals to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) and the likely impact eta wider cohort of those who can appeal, set against the possible effect of the proposals for mediation information and, if requested, mediation for those who intend to appeal to the Tribunal. It does not cover the effect on the number of complaints to bodies which deal with health and social care complaints. Nor does it give estimated costs of making the Tribunal the single point of appeal and redress. This is not proposed by the Bill.
	A copy of “Evidence Pack: Special Educational Needs: Children and Families Bill 2013” is in the House Library.
	http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/s/sen%20evidence%20pack.pdf

Children: Childcare

The Earl of Listowel: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what calculations they have made of the impact of increased availability of high-quality affordable childcare on growth and employment.

Lord Nash: The Department for Education has conducted a number of surveys on the effects of affordable childcare on employment, finding evidence that:
	more than half of stay-at-home mothers would prefer to be in paid employment if they could arrange appropriate affordable, high-quality childcare; and
	a quarter of working mothers would increase their hours if they could arrange such childcare.
	These findings are echoed by the Women's Business Council report of July 2013, which indicates that there are 2.4 million women who are not in work but want to work and a further 1.3 million who want to increase their hours.
	This report also estimates that if women wererepresented in the same numbers as men in the workforce, GDP growth would be up to 10% higher by 2030.

Coroners and Justice Act 2009

Baroness Golding: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to implement in full section 28 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009; and, if so, when.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what studies have been made since the passing of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 as to the impact of implementing the provisions of section 28 of that Act.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of section 28 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, whether they have plans to conduct pilot schemes allowing all evidence given by children in sexual cases to be video recorded rather than given viva voce.

Lord McNally: The Secretary of State announced on 11 June 2013 the Government's plan to pilot Section 28 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 in three Crown Court locations—Liverpool, Leeds and Kingston-Upon-Thames. The pilots will run for six months followed by an assessment period with the intention of rolling the measure out more widely if it proves a success.
	The announcement followed many months work on how best to test pre-trial cross-examination, working closely with the judiciary, courts, police and CPS. Piloting this legislation is an element of the recently published—“Transforming the Criminal Justice System: A Strategy And Action Plan to Reform the Criminal Justice System”, paper which will provide extra support for victims and witnesses by offering them greater protection throughout the criminal justice process, a louder voice and better redress.

Council Tax

Baroness King of Bow: To ask Her Majesty’s Government , further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hanham on 20 June (WA 66), how much of the £46.5 million underspend
	in the Transition Fund for local Council Tax Support schemes will be made available to local authorities in 2014–15.

Baroness Hanham: The Department for Communities and Local Government has two distinct budgets - one to support measures in the local government settlement and one to support the department's wider work on areas such as housing, economic growth and localism.
	The funding for the voluntary, one-year, transition grant was additional funding found for this issue from within the 2012-13 budget for the department's wider work.
	Although the scheme was taken up by two-thirds of billing authorities, when an element of this funding was not required it was therefore released back to support those wider priorities. 'I here is no read across to spending or budgets in 2014-15.
	As outlined in my statement of 15 October 2012, Official Report, Column 163 WS, the transitional grant was for one year to encourage best practice in the new schemes and to give local authorities space to realise savings from areas such as cutting fraud and error (which saw £230 million wrongly paid out in 2012-13).
	The localisation of council tax support is helping tackle the deficit left by the last Administration, delivering ongoing savings of £470 million a year of taxpayers’ money. It also gives all councils stronger incentives to cut fraud, promote local enterprise and get people back into work.

Courts: Child Witnesses

Baroness Golding: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of recent trials dealing with sexual offences, guidance will be given to trial judges about protecting child witnesses from extensive cross-examination by defence counsel.

Lord McNally: In managing trials, judges are guided by principles contained in the Criminal Procedure Rules produced by the Criminal Procedure Rule Committee and to Practice Directions and Notes issued by the senior judiciary. In addition, for particular types of crime, judges receive specialist training through the Judicial College.
	Judges have power to make sure courts are no place for character assassination. In accordance with professional codes of conduct, defence barristers should not ask questions that are offensive, unnecessary or scandalous. There is absolutely no place for aggression within our courts, and many judges make full use of the powers available to them,
	Although judges have the power to intervene to prevent overly aggressive cross-examination and character assassinations, there are a number of recent examples
	of victims being left traumatised after court cases. The Secretary of State announced on 11 June 2013 the Government’s plan to pilot section 28 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 in three Crown Court locations for six months. In addition, the Government announced on 30 June 2013 its intention to review how the distress caused to victims through cross-examination might he reduced. This review, to be conducted over the summer, will look in particular at the cross-examination of vulnerable victims, including children, by multiple defence counsel.

Courts: Magistrates' Courts

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what guidance they issue to magistrates about communicating with Members of Parliament, police and crime commissioners and local councillors about issues relating to crime and disorder, family law or licensing; and whether any qualifications apply to magistrates' freedom to speak on such matters.

Lord McNally: The Lord Chief Justice is responsible for guidance to the judiciary in England and Wales on matters of personal conduct. In November 2012, the Senior Presiding Judge, on behalf of the Lord Chief Justice, issued guidance on working with police and crime commissioners (PCCs). A copy of that guidance will be deposited in the Libraries of both Houses. No specific guidance has been issued about magistrates communicating with Members of Parliament or local councillors. However, in all matters of personal conduct, magistrates are expected to be circumspect and to maintain the dignity, standing and good reputation of the magistracy at all times.

Education: Independent Reviewing Officers

Lord Black of Brentwood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to take steps to reform the system of Independent Reviewing Officers in the light of the Ofsted report Independent Reviewing Officers: taking up the challenge.

Lord Nash: We strengthened the role of the Independent Reviewing Officers (IRO) in 2011 to ensure each child has a named IRO who has independent oversight of the child’s case and can review their care plan.
	We recognise that more needs to be done to ensure that IROs across the country are working effectively and consistently so that all looked after children receive a top quality service. In May we held a Roundtable with IRO managers, local government and voluntary sector partners to consider the role of the IRO in light of Ofsted’s report. It was agreed that there was some
	excellent local practice which needed to be spread to all local authorities. Key aspects of an excellent service that we identified are:
	IROs having the required skills, training, and knowledge to undertake all duties set out in the IRO Handbook;
	IROs having manageable caseloads and the ability to effectively challenge poor practice;
	The quality of the IRO service is continuously improved by managers and IROs acting on feedback from children and young people;
	Annual reports on IROs performance are published and discussed with lead members and Director of Children’s Services (DCS).
	Following the Roundtable discussion the Children and Families Minister, Edward Timpson, wrote to all DCS asking that they review and improve their IRO services, in line with Ofsted’s recommendations.
	The Government is working closely with the IRO sector to drive forward improvements and we have asked Ofsted to shine a light on the quality of IRO services through their revised inspection framework which comes into force in September 2013.

Elections: Voters

Lord Ashcroft: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether any consideration is being given to allowing all British citizens the right to vote in General Elections.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: British and Irish citizens are entitled to register to vote in UK parliamentary elections, provided that the other registration criteria are also met. To be eligible to register a person must: be resident in the constituency (subject to certain exceptions), be over 18 or become 18 within the lifetime of the next electoral register, and not be subject to any legal incapacity to vote.
	The Representation of the People Act 1985 provides for British citizens resident overseas to be able to register to vote in UK parliamentary elections, provided that they have been registered in the UK in the past 15 years.
	The Government is open to discussion about whether the 15-year time limit remains appropriate but is not minded at present to change the law.
	It is the Government’s strong view that whether prisoners are entitled to vote is a matter for Parliament.

Embryology

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Earl Howe on 8 January (WA 22–3) and 23 January (WA 216–17) and the Written Statement by Earl Howe on 17 July (WS 114–15), whether it remains the case that the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has limited powers concerning ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) and that there is no clear mechanism through which the HFEA
	can mitigate the risks of OHSS; if so, how the HFEA will implement the recommendations in the report of the independent review by Dr Justin McCracken regarding risks such as OHSS; and, if not, when and how the circumstances changed to make it possible for the HFEA to play a role in mitigating such risks.

Earl Howe: There is no change in the position set out in my Written Answers of 8 January 2013 Official Report, columns WA 22-3 and 23 January 2013 Official Report, columns. WA 216-17.
	The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has also advised that it welcomes the recommendations set out in the independent review carried out by Mr McCracken. It is currently considering these recommendations and will report on progress to the next meeting of the Authority in September 2013.

Employment: Work Capability Assessments

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the total sums of public funds paid to date to Atos Healthcare; and what will be paid to it in each of the coming years in which it is contracted to the Department for Work and Pensions.

Lord Freud: The current Medical Services Contract with Atos Healthcare commenced on September 1st 2005 Spending on the Contract since then has been as follows:
	Sept 2005 to March 2006 £73,300,000
	April 2006 to March 2007 £60,200,000
	April 2007 to March 2008 £70,200,000
	April 2008 to March 2009 £111,800,000
	April 2009 to March 2010 £99,100,000
	April 2010 to March 2011 £112,800,000
	April 2011 to March 2012 £112,400,000
	April 2012 to March 2013 £114,300,000
	The figures in the table not only cover the total number of assessments undertaken across all benefits, including IS Reassessment, but also costs relating to written and verbal medical advice, fixed overheads, administrative costs, investments new technology and other service improvements.
	In respect of what will be paid to Atos Healthcare in each of the coming years for the Medical Services Contract this information is not currently available as the contract is consumption based. This means that future payments will be predicted on the volume of assessments, change and infrastructural upgrades undertaken by Atos.
	The increase in the figures is due to a rise in the volumes going through the Medical Services Contract between the Department and Atos Healthcare.
	There was a small increase in the cost of the exam over the period, however the main reason for the increase in spend was the introduction of Employment Support Allowance (ESA) by the last government from November 2008 followed by Incapacity Benefit Reassessment (IBA) starting in March 2011.

Energy: Carbon Emissions

Viscount Ridley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many milligrams of carbon dioxide they estimate are produced per kilowatt-hour of electricity generated from (1) coal, (2) oil, (3) gas, and (4) biomass, excluding any deduction from the gross total for carbon dioxide absorbed by growing vegetation.

Baroness Verma: Table 1 below gives the estimated emissions from electricity generated by coal and gas (given as grams of CO2 per kilowatt hour supplied). These are taken from table 5C of the Digest of UK Energy Statistics. Due to the small amounts of oil now used in electricity generation these figures are no longer published.
	Table I: Carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation
	
		
			 Fuel gCO2/kWh 
			 Coal 895 
			 Gas 415 
		
	
	The carbon intensity of biomass varies, depending on the type of biomass (e.g. wood pellet, manure, saw mill residues), its country of origin, and emissions associated with processing the biomass and transporting it to the power station. Typical estimated emissions from power generation from biomass range between 50 and 280 g CO2 equivalent per kWh electricity. These figures are calculated using the European Commission RED Life Cycle Analysis methodology, which assumes that absorption of carbon dioxide by the biomass growth is equal to that emitted by combustion, unless the land use has changed categories since 2008, in which case any reduction in carbon stored on the land is accounted for.

Energy: Shale Gas

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have received evidence of any case of contamination of an aquifer or other groundwater from the exploration for, or production of, gas or oil from shale in the United States.

Baroness Verma: We are not aware of evidence which is specific to exploration
	or production of shale gas or oil. As regards gas operations more generally, however, we are aware of evidence of the contamination of aquifers with methane, and of contamination of watercourses with chemicals from surface operations. For example a 2011 publication by
	MIT, The Future of Natural Gas, 
	summarises information on over forty such cases reported between 2005 and 2009 http://mitei.mit.edu/system/files/NaturalGas_ Appendix2E.pdf.
	We are not aware of any confirmed case of contamination of an aquifer with fracking fluids.

EU: Justice and Home Affairs Measures

The Lord Bishop of Wakefield: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, prior to their decision on 9 July to opt out of 130 European Union Justice and Home Affairs measures as provided for by the Lisbon Treaty, guarantees were provided by the European Commission that the United Kingdom would be able to opt back in to various police and justice provisions.

Lord McNally: Protocol 36 to the Treaties places an obligation on the UK and the Union institutions to, “...seek to re-establish the widest possible measure of participation of the United Kingdom in the acquis of the Union in the area of freedom, security and justice without seriously affecting practical operability of the various parts thereof, while respecting their coherence”. We are confident that we will be able to reach agreement on a sensible final package of measures that the UK will formally apply to rejoin.
	Of course it is not possible to predict the final outcome of the discussions with EU institutions, but following the Governments announcement on 9 July the Commission made clear in a press release that it “respects the UK Government’s choice to opt out, which is in line with the Treaty, and welcomes the UK intention to also opt back into certain measures”.

Female Genital Mutilation

Baroness Cox: To ask Her Majesty’s Government to how many, and to which, countries the Statement Opposing Female Genital Mutilation has been sent; and whether there are any early indicators of its impact.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The “Statement Opposing Female Genital Mutilation” leaflet has been in circulation as a pilot since October 2012. As of 29 July 2013, 22,854 leaflets have been distributed to voluntary and community sector organisations, as well as police forces, health centres and local authorities. The statement is produced in English and in 10 other languages.
	The Home Office has not sent the leaflet to other countries. A full evaluation of the impact and success of the statement will be undertaken after the pilot has finished in November 2013.

Finance: Credit Cards

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government , further to the Written Answer by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 17 July (WA 128–9), which regulator has the power to examine and review the interest rates charged by credit card issuers to consumers; how many companies offer that facility in the United Kingdom; whether they have plans to inquire into the rates currently charged; and what are the main barriers discovered by the Office of Fair Trading to new entrants in its review of such credit payment schemes.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: The Office of Fair Trading (OFT), the current regulator responsible for consumer credit regulation, including the regulation of credit card issuers, has no current plans to examine the rates charged by credit card issuers. When regulation of consumer credit transfers to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) from April 2014, it will consider which areas of the consumer credit market to prioritise.
	We are not aware of any data on the number of companies that issue credit cards. However, 2011 data from Mintel/Ipsos Mori tells us that 1 I card issuers accounted for over 80% of the consumer lending in this market. The largest issuer was Barclaycard with 19% of the market, followed by Lloyds TSB with 11% and Nat west with 10%.
	The OFT has not examined barriers to entry specifically in relation to credit card providers; but it has considered retail banking in general, including high street banks, which provide current accounts as well as credit cards, and Small and Medium-Sized enterprises (SME) banking. The following link provides further details
	www.oft.gov.uk/OFTwork/markets-work/othermarketswork/review-barriers/#named3

Food: Food Banks

Lord Ouseley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the cause of increased numbers of people using charitable food banks.

Baroness Hanham: There are no official figures for the number of people, or reason for them using, food banks. The greatest proportion of such provision is community-led responding to local needs. As such, the Government do not believe
	it is possible to keep a record of the number of food banks without placing unnecessary burdens on volunteers trying to help their communities.

Government: Deregulation

Lord Rooker: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which Ministers have specific deregulation policy responsibilities; and what is the mechanism by which those responsibilities are co-ordinated within government.

Lord Newby: A list of Ministers responsible for Better Regulation functions (including deregulation) within their departments is provided below:
	Better Regulation Ministers
	The Rt Hon Oliver Letwin MP, Minister of State for Government Policy, cross-government responsibility
	The Rt Hon Michael Fallon MP, Minister of State for Business and Enterprise, cross-government responsibility
	Nick Hurd MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Charities, Social Enterprise and Volunteering, Cabinet Office
	Jo Swinson MP, Minister for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	Nicholas Boles MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government
	The Rt Hon Hugh Robertson MP, Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport
	Elizabeth Truss MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families, Department for Education
	David Heath MP, Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	Stephen Hammond MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, Department for Transport
	Steve Webb MP, Minister for Pensions, Department for Work and Pensions
	Anna Soubry MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health, Department of Health
	Lord Deighton, Commercial Secretary to the Treasury, HM Treasury
	Lord Taylor of Holbeach, Lords Minister and Minister for Criminal Information, Home Office
	Helen Grant MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice, Ministry of Justice
	Deregulation responsibilities across government are co-ordinated by the Better Regulation Executive within the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and by the Reducing Regulation Cabinet Sub-Committee (RRC), whose membership can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_ data/file/83739/Cabinet_Committee_Membership_ Lists_Oct-2012.pdf

HALO Trust

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to renew the contract for the HALO Trust to continue its mine-clearance work in Sri Lanka when the present funding ends.

Lord Newby: The UK Government’s current programme of mine clearance with the HALO Trust in Sri Lanka, part of a broader global programme, finishes in November 2013. Any new contract for mine clearance in Sri Lanka will be awarded through a competitive tender process.

Health: Cancer

Baroness Masham of Ilton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that patients with breast cancer have access to technology that can accurately assess their need for chemotherapy.

Earl Howe: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is consulting on draft diagnostic guidance on tests to assess the suitability of chemotherapy in certain breast cancer patients. It is anticipated that the final guidance, Gene expression profiling and expanded immunohistochemistry tests to guide the use of adjuvant chemotherapy in early breast cancer management: MammaPrint, Oncotype DX, IHC4 and Mammostrat will be published in September 2013. The draft guidance can be found on the NICE website, www.nice.org.uk, by typing “gene expression profiling” into the search bar.

Health: Doctors

Baroness Masham of Ilton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 8 July (WA 11), whether they have any plans to collect centrally the number of vacancies for doctors in departments of emergency medicine.

Earl Howe: The department has no plans to collect centrally the number of vacancies for doctors in departments of emergency medicine.

Health: Genomic Medicine

Baroness Masham of Ilton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage the adoption of genomic technology in the National Health Service.

Earl Howe: The United Kingdom has always had an enviable worldwide reputation for pioneering genetic research and has taken part in a wide range of related initiatives. Following the 2009 report of the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee inquiry on Genomic Medicine and its recommendations on genomic innovation, the Human Genomics Strategy Group (HGSG) was established in 2010, and delivered its report in January 2012.
	In December 2012, the Prime Minister announced a project to sequence the whole genomes of up to 100,000 people over the next five years.
	Genomics England Ltd has been established to run the project. Owned entirely by the Department, it will manage contracts for specialist UK-based companies, universities and hospitals for sequencing, data linkage and analysis, and set standards for patient consent. Based on expert scientific advice, it will start by tackling cancer, rare diseases and infectious diseases.
	The UK aims to be the first country in the world to introduce whole genome sequencing into the mainstream health system.

Health: Human Papilloma Virus

The Countess of Mar: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 25 June (WA 112), whether there is any evidence that some school nurses are not forwarding promptly details of human papillomavirus vaccinations given to girls at school to the girls’ general practitioners; and what measures they will take to ensure that all documentation is provided within a week of administration of the vaccine.

Earl Howe: The information requested is not routinely collected. However, we do not have any reason to doubt that school nurses are forwarding promptly details of human Papilloma virus vaccination given to girls at school to the girls' general practitioners. Measures taken to ensure that all documentation is provided within reasonable time of administration of the vaccine have already been provided to the noble Countess on 12 June, Official Report, column WA112.

Health: Private Hospitals

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what activities a private hospital must undertake in order to be eligible for charitable status; and whether all private hospitals that have been awarded charitable status meet those criteria every year.

Lord Newby: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Charity Commission. I have asked the commission’s chief executive to reply.

Health: Weekend Services

Lord Mawhinney: To ask Her Majesty’s Government (1) how many, and (2) what proportion of, NHS hospitals provide the same services to their patients on Saturdays and Sundays as they provide from Mondays to Fridays.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government (1) how many, and (2) what proportion of, general practitioner surgeries provide the same services to their patients on Saturdays and Sundays as they provide from Mondays to Fridays.

Earl Howe: This information is not collected centrally.
	The NHS Services, Seven Days a Week Forum, set up by NHS England, is currently undertaking a one-off survey of National Health Service trusts in England to establish the baseline position in respect of their weekend service offer. This will be used, together with data collected by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges from Royal Colleges, Specialist Societies and individual consultants, to begin to quantify the current gap in weekend provision.
	There are currently no plans to collect general practitioner data.

Higher Education: Staff

Baroness Quin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many employees in further education establishments and colleges who are now classified as private sector employees were previously classified as public sector employees.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: The total estimated number of staff working in further education and sixth-form colleges, who were reclassified from public sector employees to private sector employees, in 2012 was 196,000.
	[Source:http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/pse/public-scctor-employment/q3-2012/stb-pse-2012q3.html]

Housing

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much discretionary housing payment funding was (1) allocated to, (2) unused by, and (3) returned to Her Majesty’s Government by, Liverpool City Council in each year to date, since its introduction.

Lord Freud: The table below shows how much Government contribution towards
	Discretionary Housing Payments was made available to Liverpool City Council in each year since the scheme began, and how much of this went unused.
	
		
			 Year Government contribution towards DHPs made available Amount of Government Contribution not used 
			 2001/02 £245,978 2148,704 
			 2002/03 £303,918 £178,466 
			 2003/04 £303,918 £207,371 
			 2004/05 £275,803 £168,450 
			 2005/06 £241,501 £72,255 
			 2006/07 £217,408 £10,957 
			 2007/08 £219,542 £9,117 
			 2008/09 £215,034 £2,325 
			 2009/10 £212,182 £18,143 
			 2010/11 £208,391 £29,268 
			 2011/12 £295,730 £136,7451 
			 2012/13 £892,5532 £337,435 
			 2013/14 £1,606,233 N/A 
		
	
	The Government's contribution towards Discretionary Housing Payments is made in instalments, based upon estimates made by the local authorities. Any balancing payments are reconciled after the year has ended.
	Therefore, any element of unused contribution would either not have been paid to Liverpool City Council, or would have been recovered. With the exception of 2011/12 where authorities could choose to carry forward unused funding into 2012/13, effectively unused funding and returned by Her Majesty's Government are the same.
	1This is the only year when authorities have been able to carry forward any unused Government Contribution towards Discretionary Housing Payments into the next financial year.
	2This includes the £136.745 unused funding from 2011/12 which Liverpool City Council requested to carry forward into 2012/13.

Housing

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to ensure that the Help to Buy scheme results in the construction of new homes.

Lord Deighton: Reduced mortgage availability has been a major constraint to new supply as builders have had a reduced pool of buyers for new homes. In supporting a reduction in deposit requirements, the Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee scheme will ensure that there are a greater number of creditworthy borrowers able to buy new property.
	The Help to Buy: equity loan scheme is only available on new build homes. The scheme was launched on 1 April and has already supported nearly 7,000 reservations of new build homes in its first three months.

Housing

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they will announce the pricing of the guarantee to be provided to lenders supporting the Help to Buy
	scheme; and whether they intend to publish the risk pricing methodology to ensure that HM Treasury will incur no net loss from the scheme.

Lord Deighton: The Government will require lenders to pay a commercial fee for each mortgage in the scheme. This fee will be set so that the scheme is self-financing and will be set in line with the European Commission's guidance on setting fees for guarantees. To that end, lenders will pay a fee which compensates the Government for the expected losses under the scheme, the cost of capital of providing the guarantee and the administrative costs of the scheme.
	The fee amount will be calculated following modelling of expected losses and will be subject to regular review so that it accurately reflects any changes to the expected losses, cost of capital or administrative costs of the scheme.
	Further details of the scheme will be published in due course.

Immigration: Infectious Diseases

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: To ask Her Majesty’s Government , further to the answers by Earl Howe on 24 April 2013 (HL Deb, col. 1402–3), what new measures are to be implemented, and when, in order to prevent immigrants bringing infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, including drug-resistant tuberculosis, into the United Kingdom from high-incidence countries like Romania.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what new or modified measures are being implemented, where there is an agreed intergovernmental procedure, in order to require immigrants either to submit a valid certificate of health from their country of origin or to undergo an immediate health examination on arrival in the United Kingdom.

Earl Howe: There are no new or modified measures to require immigrants to submit a valid certificate of health from their country of origin or to undergo an immediate health examination on arrival in the United Kingdom, apart from the arrangements for screening migrants from high incidence countries for active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) announced on 21 May 2012 by, former Minister of State for Immigration (Damian Green) as follows:
	www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/news/wms-tb.pdf
	The new arrangements mean that all entrants from high TB incidence countries applying for visas over six months will be required to submit for pulmonary TB screening prior to and be certified as free of TB before they can be issued a visa. This system is currently being rolled out and it is anticipated that on completion the current system of on-entry screening for TB will
	cease. Countries like Romania, as European Union countries, do not fall within the remit of the pre-entry TB screening programme.
	In addition to this there is a longstanding provision in the Immigration Act which allows for the medical inspection of an arriving passenger should the admitting immigration officer deem it appropriate.
	The Department will continue to provide policy leadership and support Public Health England in ensuring co-ordination of international and domestic approaches to TB.
	The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance published in 2011, includes section 1.8.7 on screening new entrants and identifies key points in a new arrival's entry to the UK where the need for TB screening should be identified from the following information:
	Port of Arrival reports;
	new registrations with primary care;
	entry to education (including universities); and
	links with statutory and voluntary groups working with new entrants.
	The guidance also recommends that any healthcare professional working with new entrants should encourage them to register with a General Practitioner, and we are also funding TB Alert, to raise public and professional awareness of TB.

Iraq: Chilcot Inquiry

Lord Eames: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect to publish the Chilcot report on the United Kingdom involvement in the Iraq war.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The Inquiry expects to be able to submit its report to the Prime Minister once the “Maxwellisation” process (by which individuals subject to criticism in the Inquiry's report are informed of the Inquiry's views and offered the opportunity to make representations to the Inquiry) is complete. In his letter to the Prime Minister on 15 July, Sir John Chilcot said that the Inquiry intends to inform relevant individuals at the end of this month that the Inquiry is likely to criticise them, and will send a second letter setting out provisional criticisms at the end of October. Sir John’s letter is published on the Iraq Inquiry website.

Migration and Immigration

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the recent Fiscal Sustainability Report from the Office for Budget Responsibility, what assessment have they made of the conclusions that (1) overall migration has a positive impact on the sustainability of the public finances over a 50-year timespan, (2) immigrants have a positive impact on productivity
	and gross domestic product, and (3) immigration has a positive effect on the public sector’s debt dynamics.

Lord Deighton: In its 2013 Fiscal sustainability report (FSR), the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) reviewed the literature on the impact of migration on the labour market and productivity, concluding that "we have not found definitive evidence on the impact of immigrants on productivity and GDP."1
	The FSR also shows the mechanical impact on long-term projections of different demographic assumptions. The OBR stresses that these results "should be interpreted as broad-brush illustrations, not detailed forecasts."2 Furthermore, they are not a full assessment of the costs and benefits of a particular immigration policy.
	1 Office for Budget Responsibility. Fiscal sustainability report, July 2013, paragraph A.45. p.148
	2 Office for Budget Responsibility. Fiscal sustainability report, July 2013, paragraph A.43. p.148

NHS: Private Sector Providers

Lord Turnberg: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of contracts for NHS services have been made with private sector providers since regulations under Section 75 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 came into force.

Earl Howe: NHS England does not hold a central record of contracts that have been awarded to private sector organisations.

Pensions

Lord Christopher: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of zero pay rate employment in general and of its impact on the potential future pension contributions for future generations.

Lord Freud: People are treated as having paid National Insurance (NI) contributions on weekly earnings of £109 or above and start paying NI contributions when their weekly earnings reach £149.
	Those taking part in government employment programmes, such as Work Experience, remain on JSA while on short-term placements with employers and will continue to be credited with NI contributions, which provide entitlement to the basic state pension.
	In a small number of cases people may be working but not receiving any pay. This includes unpaid family workers—comprising less than half of 1% of all people in work—and those on unpaid internships. These kinds
	of opportunities help people gain experience in the labour market and so will not necessarily have an appreciable impact on longer-term pension prospects.

Personal Independence Payment

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what evidence was used by the Department for Work and Pensions to support the use of 20 metres as the distance to be used to assess whether people qualify for the enhanced rate of the mobility component of the Personal Independence Payment; and what evidence they used to support the use of the measure of 20 metres as a point at which disabled people face significantly higher costs than those who can walk up to 50 metres.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment the Department for Work and Pensions undertook to assess the additional costs and barriers faced by disabled people when setting the mobility criteria for the Personal Independence Payment; and how quality of life and wellbeing were taken into account when setting the mobility criteria for the Personal Independence Payment.

Lord Freud: In designing the assessment for Personal Independence Payment, the department considered the existing evidence relating to the extra costs faced by disabled people. This includes the following items of independent research:
	Review of existing research on the extra costs of disability, 2005, DWP Working Paper 21 (http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120411063028/http://research.dwp.clov.uk/asd/asd5/WP21.pdf)
	Review of international evidence on the cost of disability, 2008, DWP research report 542 (http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120411063028/http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2009-2010/rrep542.pdf)
	The impact of Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance: Findings from exploratory qualitative research, 2010, DWP research report 649 (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/ system/uploads/attachment_data/file/138984/rrep649.pdf.pdf)
	These were referred to in the 2010 Disability Living Allowance reform consultation and in the May 2011 technical note supporting the initial draft of the assessment regulations.
	In developing the PIP assessment, we considered various options for determining entitlement, including whether it would be feasible to assess the actual extra costs incurred by individuals as a result of their health condition or impairment. However, we did not believe this to be a practical approach, as the very wide range of factors affecting costs could have led to the assessment being subjective and inconsistent. Instead we chose to look at individuals’ ability to participate in society as a
	proxy for their overall levels of need. Individuals’ levels of participation in society are assessed by looking at their ability to carry out a series of key everyday activities and the barriers they face in doing so. We believe that this is a fair and effective method of determining entitlement to the benefit, enabling us to target PIP on those who face the greatest barriers to living an independent life.
	This approach was set out in the May 2011 document “Personal Independence Payment: initial draft of the assessment criteria”; the November 2011 document “Personal Independence Payment: second draft of the assessment criteria”; and the December 2012 document “The Government’s response to the consultation on the Personal Independence Payment assessment criteria and regulations”.
	In line with this principle, the “moving around” aspect of the PIP assessment was designed to assess the key barriers individuals face to mobility. Our intention has always been to focus the enhanced rate on those with the greatest barriers to mobility. Paragraphs 2.3 and 2.4 of the June 2013 “Consultation on the PIP assessment ‘moving around’ activity” set out the department’s rationale for setting the benchmark of 20 metres.
	We also considered all the evidence we received in response the consultations that we have carried out on PIP. In particular, consultation responses contained valuable insight into the impact of limited mobility on individuals’ quality of life and wellbeing.
	The consultation on the “moving around” activity in the PIP assessment is still ongoing and closes on 5 August 2013. We will carefully consider all responses received before taking any decisions on whether to make changes to the assessment criteria.

Personal Independence Payment

Baroness Gardner of Parkes: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the responses to their consultation on the Personal Independence Payment assessment for “moving around” activity, whether they will consider changing the 20 metre motability criterion to 50 metres.

Lord Freud: The consultation on the “moving around” activity in the PIP assessment was launched on 24 June 2013 and ends on 5 August 2013. We will carefully consider all responses received before taking any decisions on whether to make changes to the assessment criteria. A copy of the consultation document can be found at: www.gov.uk/govemment/consultations/consultation-on-the-pip-assessment-movingaround-activity.

Planning

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hanham on 22 July (WA 171), whether the Community Infrastructure Levy and section 106 agreements only apply to new developments; and how any rise in the value of
	existing developments, where their value is increased by new infrastructure development, is captured for the public purse.

Baroness Hanham: The Community Infrastructure Levy and section 106 agreements are only required as a consequence of new development: their purpose is to secure contributions which the local authorities consider necessary to mitigate the impact of new development.
	Any increases in the value of existing development can only be realised when that development is let or sold, when the lessor or vendor is the principal recipient of the benefit. Mechanisms such as stamp duty capture some of this gain for the public purse but are not specific to particular areas or communities.
	Infrastructure improvements may also affect the Rateable Values of hereditaments, thereby (over time) feeding through to business rate revenues, and then on to local authorities under the local retention of business rates.
	Councils also have powers to levy a supplementary business rate, subject to support from local firms. In London, a business rate supplement is helping towards the financing of Crossrail, reflecting the broader value that Crossrail will in due course provide to London businesses.

Population: Statistics

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what revisions in the number of people coming to and leaving the United Kingdom for the 10 years up to 2011 have been made by the Office for National Statistics; and for what reason.

Lord Newby: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Prisoners: Hepatitis

Baroness Masham of Ilton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prisoners in England received a hepatitis C test in (1) 2008, (2) 2009, (3) 2010, (4) 2011, and (5) 2012.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of prisoners in England received a hepatitis C test in (1) 2008, (2) 2009, (3) 2010, (4) 2011, and (5) 2012.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prisoners in England received a hepatitis B test in (1) 2008, (2) 2009, (3) 2010, (4) 2011, and (5) 2012.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of prisoners in England received a hepatitis B test in (1) 2008, (2) 2009, (3) 2010, (4) 2011, and (5) 2012.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prisoners in England received a full course of the hepatitis B vaccine in (1) 2008, (2) 2009, (3) 2010, (4) 2011, and (5) 2012.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of prisoners in England received a full course of the hepatitis B vaccine in (1) 2008, (2) 2009, (3) 2010, (4) 2011, and (5) 2012.

Earl Howe: Data on hepatitis B and C
	prevalence in prisons is collected centrally by Public Health England (PHE). PHE collects data from a number of sources. The Prison Health Performance Quality Indicators (PHPQI) record data on the number of prisoners who are tested for hepatitis C and the number of prisoners who were vaccinated against hepatitis B, either before or within one month of reception into prison. This data is shown in the following table.
	Incomplete reporting means that these data probably under-represent the total number of prisoners receiving a test or a full course of vaccine. Data on hepatitis B testing is not collected centrally.
	
		
			 PHPQI: number of hepatitis C tests in prisons in England 2008-2012; combined male 
			  2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 Number of prisoners in England receiving a hepatitis C test Not available Not available 13,306 11,002 12,322 
			 Percentage of prisoners in England receiving a hepatitis C test Not available Not available 5% 5.8% 6.2% 
			 Number of prisoners in England receiving a full course of hepatitis B vaccine 66,759 60,869 143,774 107,282 111,497 
			 Percentage of prisoners in England receiving a full course of hepatitis B vaccine 37% 40% 57% 57°/o 57% 
		
	
	Source: Prison Health Performance Quality Indicators/Public Health England

Prisoners: Learning Disabilities

Lord Bradley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that comprehensive screening is in place to identify prisoners with learning disabilities.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that reasonable adjustments are made for all prisoners with learning disabilities.

Lord McNally: Prison Service Instruction 32/2011 Ensuring Equality includes mandatory instructions to Governors to ensure that efforts are made to identify whether a prisoner has a mental or physical impairment of any form. It notes that not all prisoners will be aware of their disabled status and states that staff must be proactive in identifying the specific needs of all prisoners, providing further guidance on learning disabilities in an annex. It goes on to mandate reasonable adjustments for prisoners. Prison Service Instruction 75/2011 Reasonable Adjustments makes clear that it is the responsibility of residential staff to identify prisoners with any particular needs and make reasonable adjustments, consulting relevant specialist staff where necessary.
	It is acknowledged that there arc improvements to be made in this area in prison establishments, and this is recognised in one of the NOMS equalities objectives 2012-16, which is to introduce a comprehensive learning disabilities screening process for offenders and to make reasonable adjustments for offenders with learning disabilities. NOMS is taking forward a programme of work in support of this objective, and is currently undertaking an assessment of the effectiveness of the various screening tools that are available in order to inform good practice across the estate.

Public Bodies

Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top: To ask Her Majesty’s Government to which public bodies the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has appointed a chairperson since May 2010; and who was appointed in each case.

Lord Newby: The following list comprises of all Chair appointments to DCMS public bodies, which are regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments:
	Appointments made between
	01/05/10 to 3/03/11
	
		
			 British Library Board The Rt Hon. the Baroness Blackstone 
			 National Museum of Science and Industry Dr Douglas Gurr 
			 Visit Britain Christopher Rodrigues 
		
	
	01/04/11 to 31/03/12
	
		
			 BBC Trust The Rt Hon. the Lord Patten of Barnes CH 
			 Football Licensing Authority* Paul Darling QC 
			 Gambling Commission Philip Graf 
			 National Gallery Mark Getty 
		
	
	
		
			 National Heritage Memorial Fund (Heritage Lottery Fund) Dame Jenny Abramsky 
			 Public Lending Right Registrar Sir James Parker 
			 Royal Armouries Museum Ann Green 
			 Royal Armouries Museum Wesley Paul 
			 S4C Huw Jones 
			 Tate Lord Browne of Madingley 
			 The Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest Lord Inglewood 
			 The Theatres Trust Rob Dickens 
			 Treasury Valuation Committee Professor Cohn Renfrew 
			 Victoria and Albert Museum Sir Paul Ruddock 
			 Wallace Collection Sir John Ritblat 
		
	
	01/04/12 - 31/03/13
	
		
			 Arts Council England Sir Peter Bazalgette 
			 Historic Royal Palaces Charles Mackay 
			 Horniman Museum Timothy Hornsbv 
			 National Museums Liverpool Professor Philip Redmond 
			 UK Anti-Doping David Kenworthy 
		
	
	01/04/13 - 22/07/13
	
		
			 Advisory Committee on the Government Art Collection* David Verey° 
			 Horserace Betting Levy Board Paul Lee 
			 Sport England Nick Bitel 
			 UK Sport Rod Carr 
		
	
	*not regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

Public Bodies

Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top: To ask Her Majesty’s Government to which public bodies the Department for Education has appointed a chairperson since May 2010; and who was appointed in each case.

Lord Nash: Since May 2010, the following individuals have been appointed chairpersons to public bodies falling under the remit of the Department for Education:
	
		
			 Public body Chairperson Date of appointment 
			 Ofsted Baroness Sally Morgan 1 March 2011 
			 Ofqual Ms Amanda Spielman 14 July 2011 
			 Children and Families Court Advisory Service (CAFCASS) Baroness Tyler of Enfield 23 January 2012 
			 School Teachers Review Body (STRB) Dame Patricia Hodgson 1 February 2012 
			 Social Mobility Child Poverty Commission (SMCPC) Mr Alan Milburn 14 July 2012 
			 Information Standards Board (ISB) Mr Deep Sager 18 February 2013

Railways: IC125 and IC225

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are their plans for the future of the IC125 and IC225 fleets currently working on the Great Western and East Coast main lines following their replacement by the new class 800 Intercity Express Passenger trains.

Lord Newby: The use of 1C125 and IC225 fleets following the deployment of class 800 series trains will be for the relevant asset owners and potential future operators to determine.

Royal Navy: Ships

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what Royal Navy ships have been decommissioned since July 2010.

Lord Astor of Hever: I refer the noble Lord to the Answer that my honourable friend the Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology (Philip Dunne) gave in the other place on 25 April 2013 (Official Report, col. 1271W). Since then HMS “Edinburgh” has been decommissioned as the new Type 45 Destroyers continue to progress.

Schools: Careers Advice

The Earl of Courtown: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many schools offer careers advice to students.

Lord Nash: Maintained schools in England have a statutory responsibility to secure independent and impartial careers guidance.
	All academies opened from September 2012 are required by their funding agreements to secure independent and impartial careers guidance, in line with the duties on maintained schools.

Schools: Funding

Lord Bassam of Brighton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have received any requests from East Sussex County Council for additional funding in order to carry out school improvement works; and, in particular, whether any such request has related to funding for a new school hall for St Michael’s Primary School in Playden.

Lord Nash: East Sussex County Council made four applications to the Education Funding Agency for additional capital funding for school works. These were all made through the Targeted Basic Need Programme. Three applications were for new schools and the fourth was for an expansion at Robsack Wood Community Primary School. The local authority was successful in one of their bids for a new school.
	No applications have been made by East Sussex County Council with regards to St Michael's Primary School in Playden.

Schools: National Curriculum

Lord Crisp: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether study of Florence Nightingale’s life and work will remain part of the national curriculum.

Lord Nash: Florence Nightingale is not mentioned specifically in the proposed national curriculum programmes of study that we published on 8 July 2013. Teachers will, however, be free to teach about her life and work. Under the current national curriculum, Florence Nightingale is mentioned in the history programme of study for key stage 2 as an example of a topic that might be covered as part of an optional unit on Victorian Britain, but teaching about her is not compulsory.
	The new national curriculum will help to ensure that school pupils are taught essential knowledge about the events and processes that have helped to shape British and world history. However, we also want to give teachers the flexibility to use their professional judgement to design lessons that stimulate and enthuse their pupils. For that reason, and having considered carefully the responses received to the public consultation on the proposals that we published earlier this year, we have reduced the level of prescription in the proposed programmes of study for history. As part of this, we have kept the number of significant historical individuals named to a minimum.

Schools: National Curriculum

Lord Crisp: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what criteria will be used to determine which historical figures will be named in the national curriculum and associated guidance to schools.

Lord Nash: In designing the new national curriculum for history we have listened to the views of historians, academics, teachers and a range of other interested parties. Following feedback from the consultation we conducted between February and April this year, we have kept the number of historical figures named to a minimum to avoid imposing unnecessary central prescription on teachers. As with other aspects of the draft curriculum, we have made a judgement about
	where it is appropriate for historical figures to be named based on consultation with subject experts. For example in key stage 1 we have given non-statutory examples to help teachers introduce pupils to history by looking at different periods through the prism of the lives of significant individuals.
	The Government does not plan to produce central guidance for schools about how the new curriculum should be taught. It will be a matter for individual schools to decide which historical figures to teach about, beyond the requirements of the statutory programmes of study.

Schools: Temperature Regulation

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to introduce maximum and minimum temperatures in all schools.

Lord Nash: The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, which cover most spaces in schools, require that the temperature in all workplaces inside buildings is reasonable during working hours. While the Approved Code of Practice, which accompanies these regulations, does say that the temperature in workrooms should normally be at least 16 degrees Celsius, it does not indicate what a maximum temperature should be.
	There are no plans to introduce a maximum temperature in schools.

Schools: Ventilation

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Department of Education’s Building Bulletin 101: Ventilation of School Buildings, how many schools have been deemed inadequately ventilated in (1) Liverpool, (2) Merseyside, (3) the North West of England and (4) the United Kingdom.

Lord Nash: The Department for Education does not collect this information and, so far as we are aware, this information is not collected in a systematic way by any other organisation.

Succession to the Crown Bill

Lord Cormack: To ask Her Majesty’s Government , further to the undertaking by Lord Wallace of Tankerness on 14 February (HL Deb, col 832), what was the outcome of their discussion with the Roman Catholic Church on mixed marriages.

Lord Wallace of Tankerness: This issue was discussed at length during the Succession to the Crown Act’s Report stage debate on 13 March, where there were a number of considered interventions. I stated both in that debate and during the course of the Third Reading debate, on 22 April 2013 (WA 1221), that I had met Monsignor Stock on behalf of Archbishop Nichols and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales to discuss this matter. Monsignor Stock was clear that he was speaking on behalf of Archbishop Nichols as president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales in setting out the following view:
	“In the instance of mixed marriages the approach of the Catholic Church is pastoral. It will always look to provide guidance that supports and strengthens the unity and indissolubility of the marriage. In this context the Catholic Church expects Catholic spouses to sincerely undertake to do all that they can to raise children in the Catholic Church. Where it has not been possible for the child of a mixed marriage to be brought up as a Catholic, the Catholic parent does not fall subject to the censure of canon law.”

Sudan

The Earl of Sandwich: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of reports that conditions in the camps for displaced people in Darfur have recently deteriorated, partly because of the threat to the work of non-governmental organisations.

Lord Newby: The increase in fighting in Darfur this year has led to more people leaving their homes and moving into camps for displaced people. The recent insecurity in South Darfur and attacks on the offices of non-governmental organisations meant that support to internally displaced people camps was stopped for a few days. However these organisations have now begun to resume operations. The United Nations Secretary General reported this week that aid was continuing to be provided to the 1.4 million people living in camps for displaced people. The UK remains concerned about the effect of insecurity on the ability of non-governmental organisations to deliver support and continues to remind the Government of Sudan of its obligation to protect civilians.

Suicide

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to put in place controls on the sale of suicide kits online, including on the promotion and sale of gases such as helium.

Lord McNally: As part of the cross-government Suicide Prevention Strategy for England led by the Department of Health, the Government plans to explore potential options for action with industry representatives.

Teachers: Professional Development

Baroness Brinton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of continuing professional development provision for teachers in the United Kingdom is provided by higher education institutions.

Lord Nash: Professional development for teachers includes a wide variety of activities and is supported and delivered by a range of providers, including schools and higher education institutions. Schools choose the professional development which they think best meets the individual needs of their teachers and pupils.
	The department does not collect information on professional development for teachers in England provided by higher education institutions.
	Matters relating to education outside England are devolved to the Scottish Government, the Northern Ireland Executive and the Welsh Government.

Teachers: Redundancy

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) compulsory redundancies, (2) voluntary redundancies, and (3) compromise agreements, have been issued to teachers during the last three years.

Lord Nash: The Department does not hold the requested information. The information is held by schools or local authorities.

Tobacco: Taxation

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the total taxation arising from packaged cigarettes in the last financial year; and what estimate they have made of the percentage revenue they would lose if all cigarettes were to be sold in plain packaging.

Lord Deighton: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) publishes excise duty collected on cigarettes in the HMRC national statistics bulletin. The cigarettes duty revenue for 2012/13 was f 8,559 million. VAT collected on cigarettes is not available and, therefore, the total tax revenue collected from tobacco taxation cannot be established.
	Alongside the Consultation on standardised packaging of tobacco products published in 2012, the Department of Health also published a consultation-stage impact assessment that provided a preliminary assessment of the costs and benefits that could arise from the introduction of standardised packaging requirements. Paragraph 52 of the impact assessment considers the cost to the Exchequer. An estimate of the percentage
	revenue lost is not available as “these estimates of lost receipts are indicative and do not allow for future changes in rates of duty, changes in market shares of different brands, changes in smoking patterns or purchasing habits.”
	The relevant documents are available on the Department of Health’s website1
	1http://consultations.dh.gov.uk/tobacco/standardised-packaging-of-tobacco-products

Academy for Healthcare Science

Baroness Masham of Ilton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much funding they have provided to the Academy for Healthcare Science (AHCS) in each of the past two years; how much they will provide to the AHCS in each of the next three years; and for what purposes that funding has been provided.

Earl Howe: In each of the past two years, the Academy for Healthcare Science (AHCS) has received funding from the Department in the years 2011-12 and 2012-13 and Health Education England (HEE) in 2013-14 as follows:
	- In 2011-12 it received £250,000;- In 2012-13 it received £450,000; and- In 2013-14 it has received £200,000.
	Further funding is being discussed by FEE to support delivery of the operational programmes of work.
	Future years' funding is the subject of on-going discussions.
	The AHCS is funded to develop consistent regulation for the healthcare science workforce; implement a system to assess and confer 'equivalence' of the existing qualifications and experience individuals have; undertake quality assurance of education and training in partnership; and develop common standards for healthcare science practice.

Armed Forces: Northern Ireland Reserve Forces

Lord Kilclooney: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how enrolment in the Territorial Army in recent months in Northern Ireland has compared with that in the other three nations in the United Kingdom; what proposals they have to increase the size of the reserve forces in Northern Ireland; where any new bases for reserve forces in Northern Ireland would be located; and which territorial army centres in Northern Ireland have been identified for closure.

Lord Astor of Hever: Enrolment with the Territorial Army (TA) has always been proportionately strong in Northern Ireland, with the most recent assessment (for 2012-13) showing that around 7% of the total number of TA personnel were recruited in Northern Ireland.
	Following my announcement on Army Reserve (Structure and Basing) on 3 July 2013, (Official Report, cols. 1215-1218) there will be no change to the overall number of Army Reserve units in Northern Ireland, which will remain as five, but sub-units will increase from 21 to 22.
	In total, the Army Reserve will be located across 15 sites in Northern Ireland. While one site, the Depot Gardens TA Centre, Armagh, will be vacated by the Army Reserve, a new site will be opened at Kinnegar Barracks in Belfast.
	The site at Armagh which is being vacated will be passed to the Defence Infrastructure Organisation to be considered for disposal. As part of this process they will establish whether there are any wider Defence uses for the site. Those Army Reserve units currently housed in the Armagh TA Centre are expected to move to Portadown at a distance of 11 miles from the current site.

Armed Forces: Royal Marine Reserves

Lord Trefgarne: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the present strength of the Royal Marines Reserve; and what is its role.

Lord Astor of Hever: At 1 June 2013 the Royal Marines Reserve strength was 650. The Royal Marines Reserve primarily provides individuals and small teams to fill specified roles in support of the United Kingdom's Amphibious Forces.

Benefits

Baroness Brinton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people with rheumatoid arthritis (1) appealed against a Department for Work and Pensions decision regarding the mobility component of Disability Living Allowance, and (2) successfully overturned a Department for Work and Pensions decision regarding the mobility component of Disability Living Allowance, in each of the last five years.

Lord McNally: The First-tier Tribunal—Social Security and Child Support (SSCS)—administered by HM Courts & Tribunals Service, hears appeals against Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) decisions on an individual's entitlement to social security and child support.
	The Tribunal does not record an appellant's specific disability, only whether the appeal is against the mobility component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA), the care component, or both. Therefore it is not possible to provide data specifically on appellants with rheumatoid arthritis.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, David Heath, on 16 July (HC Deb, col 634–5W) stating the Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food advice that the sale and consumption of meat from tuberculosis reactor cattle presents negligible risk, how they apply their duty of care in providing food to those compelled to accept it in hospitals, schools and the armed services; and what other similar and current practices exist relating to meals provision in those areas of responsibility.

Earl Howe: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) considers that the risk to human health from bovine Tuberculosis (TB) through consumption of meat is very low and current evidence does not indicate a food safety issue. Bovine TB is not considered to be a meat-borne pathogen and meat from TB reactor cattle is as safe to eat as other meat. No specific additional food safety measures are therefore legally required or recommended by FSA in relation to providing this meat to hospitals, schools and the armed service over and above FSA's general advice for food businesses and consumers on the safe preparation and cooking of meat.
	The body with responsibility for food procurement differs for schools, hospitals and the armed services. Public sector procurement practices, required standards and audit procedures vary depending on the body procuring the food. National Health Service and hospital food procurement is determined by the individual nations; in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland food procurement is coordinated through the individual nations central NHS Procurement teams; in England there is a NHS Supply Chain which has national contracts with approved hospital suppliers. Food procurement within local authority (LA) schools is, generally, the responsibility of the LA procurement team. The armed services have their own systems in place, run through the Ministry of Defence who monitor contracts ensuring both food safety and contractual obligations are met.
	All food businesses, including hospitals, schools and manufacturers across the United Kingdom receive food hygiene inspections from the appropriate enforcement agency, whether the LA food safety team, or the FSA operations team in the case of meat approved establishments. Further to this public sector bodies may undertake their own audit procedures on suppliers or have in place independent third party auditors, if they feel this is required.

Broadcasting: Public Service Terrestrial Broadcasting

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the value to the United Kingdom economy of free at the point of use public service terrestrial broadcasting.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The BBC, ITV, S4C and Channels 4 and 5 now invest over £3 billion a year in UK content. Investment by the public service broadcasters supports the wider creative industries. Deloitte estimates that the BBC alone generated £8 billion for the UK economy in the last year, equating to about two pounds being added to the UK economy for every pound of licence fee spent.

Burma

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assistance and treatment for cervical infections has been provided to ethnic Kachin women in Burma in camps for the internally displaced.

Lord Popat: The UK is one of the biggest bilateral donors in Kachin State. We have just announced new humanitarian funding there of £13.5 million for the next two and a half years. This will include provision of a range of basic health services with a focus on internally displaced people. For serious diseases and infections our partners provide support to help improve people's access to better healthcare facilities, which may include assistance for treatment of cervical infections.

Burma

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have discussed with the government of Burma how much money that government has spent on support for (1) internally displaced people in Kachin State, and (2) internally displaced people in Rakhine state.

Lord Popat: The UK is in regular contact with the government of Burma at ministerial level regarding the situation of internally displaced people in Kachin and Rakhine states. Inter-communal violence, and the state of the peace process were discussed by UK Ministers, including the Prime Minister, with Burmese President Thein Sein during his recent visit to London. The Minister of State for International Development, Rt. Hon. Alan Duncan, visited Rakhine in June 2013 and discussed the need to provide equitable assistance to internally displaced people (IDPs) and improve access to essential services, with his Burmese government counterparts.
	It is difficult to provide a precise figure for support from the Government of Burma to IDPs in Rakhine and Kachin as the majority of assistance is in kind,
	such as shelter, food and health worker visits. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that the Government of Burma has provided 44% of the required shelters for IDPs (June 2013), although the figure may now be higher, as more government-built shelters have been completed in recent weeks.

Burma

Baroness Goudie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what projects they have funded in the past year to end child soldier recruitment in Burma.

Lord Popat: The UK provides central core funding to the United Nations Children's Fund globally. UNICEF provides rehabilitation, reintegration, family-tracing and other forms of support to former child soldiers in Burma. UNICEF also provides assistance to help the military protect, respect and promote the rights of children. The Government of Burma signed an action plan with UNICEF in 2012 to end the recruitment and use of child soldiers by the Burmese military. In June 2013, the Government released a further 42 children from service in the armed forces.

Care: Deferred Payment Schemes

Lord Lipsey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many local authorities run deferred payment schemes for care; and how many do not.

Earl Howe: We do not currently centrally collect comprehensive data on how many local authorities run deferred payment schemes.
	Some data has previously been collected through voluntary departmental surveys and whilst partial, this suggests that at least 81 local authorities report having offered deferred payments at some point in the last three years.
	However, the numbers of deferred payments available in each authority varies significantly across the country. The impact assessment on Universal Deferred Payments published alongside the Care Bill shows that many authorities have few or no deferred payments. There is also significant inconsistency in terms of who authorities allow to have a deferred payment, what fees people can defer and for how long.
	As we take this area of work forward we will seek opportunities to work with the sector to gain a better understanding of current provision.

Caste Discrimination

Lord Avebury: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they intend to make the Equality Act 2010, as amended to include caste discrimination, available free online.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The Government aims to have an up-to-date online statute book by the end of this Parliament in May 2015, which will include the Equality Act 2010 as amended to include caste discrimination. The National Archives is responsible for legislation.gov.uk.
	Where it has not yet been possible to revise the text of a piece of legislation on the website, legislation.gov.uk makes sure that users are aware that there are effects which have yet to be applied, and makes it clear where they should look for these.

Central African Republic

Baroness Berridge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the political situation and law and order in the Central African Republic.

Baroness Warsi: The UK condemns the unconstitutional seizure of power in the Central African Republic (CAR) by the Seleka rebel coalition. We are deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation in the country, particularly reports of human rights violations, violence, and looting; and the difficulties humanitarian agencies face in gaining access to those in need. We urge CAR's National Transitional Council to work towards restoring security on the ground, and to ensure that civilians are protected.
	We are working with our partners in the UN and EU to support the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and the African Union (AU) as they seek a lasting solution to CAR's instability. We welcome ECCAS and the AU's progress on increasing their efforts to restore stability to the country. But political progress towards the implementation of a constitutional government is also vital. We therefore welcome the April 2013 agreement that CAR’s National Transitional Council would uphold the spirit of the Librevllle agreement and that elections would he held within 18 months.

Children and Families Bill

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to provide for a single point of appeal and redress against education, health and care assessments under the Children and Families Bill.

Lord Nash: The Government has no plans to create a single point of redress for appeals about education, health and care (EHC) assessments and EHC plans under the Children and Families Bill. There are well-established routes for complaints about health and social care provision which will be available to parents and young people. Through the “local offer”,
	which the Bill will introduce, local authorities will clearly set out the complaints procedures for education, health and social care provision and assessments. The Government believes that the first-tier tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) should continue to bring its expertise to bear on appeals about special educational assessments and provision.

Children and Families Bill

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the context of their preparation for the Children and Families Bill, they have assessed the average time taken to investigate complaints made to the Local Government Ombudsman and the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman in each of the last five years; and, if so, what are those figures.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the context of their preparation for the Children and Families Bill, they have assessed the average cost of investigating a complaint made to the Local Government Ombudsman and the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman in each of the last five years; and, if so, what is that assessment.

Lord Nash: Information on the average time taken to investigate complaints is available from the LGO and the PHSO.i The LGO's 2012-13 annual report showed that 55 per cent of complaints received a decision within 13 weeks, 85 per cent within 26 weeks and 97 per cent within 12 months. PHSO's latest annual report shows that the average time taken to investigate complaints was reduced to 317 days in 2012-13 compared to 357 days in 2011-12.
	These two organisations do not collect data on the average cost of investigations. However, the Department did commission research, undertaken between November 2010 and March 2011, on the cost and timeliness of investigating school complaints. This included a pilot study which showed that, on average, it took the LGO just under twelve weeks to resolve these complaints at an estimated cost of £820, which was comparable with the cost of investigating local authority complaints.ii
	i
	www.lgo.org.uk/publications/annual-report/ and www.ombudsman.org.uk/.
	ii 
	www.gov.uk/government/publications/parents-and-vouna- peoples-complaints-about-schools.

Courts Service and Tribunals Service

Lord Dholakia: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to consult the Magistrates' Association before any final decisions are made concerning the governance and funding of any new organisations to replace HM Courts and Tribunal Service.

Lord McNally: No decisions have been made about any future arrangements for HMCTS. The Secretary of State is clear that he wants to consider the range of
	approaches for reform, but that any future change must maintain the administration of justice as a core responsibility of the State and safeguard the independence of the judiciary.
	The senior judiciary have been involved in discussions throughout and their views, and those of the magistracy, will be reflected in any proposals which emerge. The chairman of both the Magistrates' Association and the National Bench Chair's Forum are involved in discussions on this work through a reference group that has been established by the judiciary.

Courts: Magistrates' Courts

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what guidance they issue to magistrates about speaking publicly about the administration of the magistrates' court system; and whether any qualifications apply to magistrates' freedom to speak on such matters.

Lord McNally: The Lord Chief Justice is responsible for guidance to the judiciary in England and Wales on matters of personal conduct. Such guidance is contained within the Guide to Judicial Conduct (March 2013), accessible at www.judiciary.gov.uk. Judicial office holders, including magistrates, are advised that appropriate judicial contributions to public debate and consideration about the operation of the courts, the independence of the judiciary, or aspects of the administration of justice, can be desirable and beneficial. However, they are also advised that care should be taken so as not to cause the public to associate them with, or give the impression that they are partial towards, a particular organisation, group or cause.

Crime and Courts Act 2013

Baroness Turner of Camden: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there will be a public consultation on the guidance in respect of section 57 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013; and when it is anticipated that section will come into effect.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Home Office is working with the College of Policing to put in place effective operational guidance on the changes to police powers made by section 57 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013. The College intends to consult a range of groups as part of the development of this guidance.
	Section 57 will be commenced in due course once the police have sufficient guidance in place.

Death Statistics

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government , on a like for like basis, how many deaths in the United Kingdom in the last available year were attributable to (1) air pollution (long-term exposure), (2) alcoholism, (3) obesity, and (4) smoking; and at what average number of years of life lost.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

Disabled People: Mortality Rates

Baroness Hollins: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what data are being collected under NHS Outcomes Framework indicator 1.7 relating to excess mortality in people with learning disabilities; and when those data will be published.

Earl Howe: We recognise the importance of including indicator 1.7 in the NHS Outcomes Framework. The Health and Social Care Information Centre is providing a test data extract from the General Practice Extraction Service, which will give some information about the number and rate of deaths of people with learning disabilities and allow standardisation by age. They have informed us that this should be available in early 2014. We will consider the test data extract to see if we need to make any changes as well as how to obtain data on a regular basis.

Drugs: Prescribed Drug Addiction

The Earl of Sandwich: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact that Public Health England, local health and well-being groups and clinical commissioning groups have on greater public awareness of (1) the risks associated with prescribed drugs, and (2) financial support of the skilled voluntary services available for those suffering from addiction and withdrawal.

Earl Howe: Public Health England is working with local authorities to support local action to improve the prevention and treatment of addiction to medicine. Local agencies will be able to evaluate the impact of local measures through their planning processes.

Drugs: Prescribed Drug Addiction

The Earl of Sandwich: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the local impact of the new Public Health England guidance on the risks associated
	with prescribed and over-the-counter drugs; and whether that guidance will lead to provision of financial support for voluntary services specialising in addiction and withdrawal.

Earl Howe: The Public Health England commissioning guidance Commissioning treatment for dependence on prescription and over-the-counter medicines: a guide for NHS and local authority commissioners promotes and supports local efforts in this area. It was published in June 2013, in time for local areas to consider as part of their planning for services for 2014-15. This planning process typically starts in autumn.
	It is the responsibility of local commissioners to use their Public Health grant allocation along with other local funding, to commission treatment and support services for this group of patients based on an assessment of local need.
	A copy of this document has been placed in the Library.

Dyslexia

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer from Lord Nash on 24 June (WA 89), what measures they will implement to ensure that children with dyslexia and other learning difficulties receive additional careers advice support, with specific regard to (1) writing curricula vitae, (2) interview technique skills, and (3) preparing for written tests.

Lord Nash: I refer the noble Lord to the reply given on 24 June, Official Report WA 89.
	Schools are responsible, through their duty to secure independent careers guidance, for providing appropriate support to help children with dyslexia prepare for future education, training and employment opportunities. Specific support including support with writing curricula vitae, interview technique skills and preparing for written tests is provided at the discretion of the school.
	Teachers and Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators will consider what reasonable adjustments are needed in relation to undertaking written tests as tailored support is provided for pupils with dyslexia throughout their school life.
	The National Careers Service offers information about learning and work to people of all ages through a website and helpline service. Those aged 19 or over with a disability are eligible as a priority group for in-depth face to face guidance. Prime contractors are set a key performance indicator to ensure that people with disabilities are effectively supported.
	We want to put more information into the public domain so that parents and students can make informed judgements about the performance of schools and colleges in their area. On 23 July we published a further breakdown of the latest destination data, including destinations of children with special educational needs
	leaving Key Stage 4. The data shows how well schools support children with special educational needs make effective transitions into post-16 education, training or employment.
	ii
	https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education/series/statistics-destinations.

Education: Special Educational Needs and Disability

Lord Lucas: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many young people in the United Kingdom of school age have motor neurone disease or cerebral palsy; and what proportion of such people is being educated in (1) a mainstream school, (2) a special school, (3) at home (under the aegis of the local authority), or (4) otherwise, broken down by local authority.

Lord Nash: Children with statements of Special Educational Needs (SEN) or at School Action Plus with cerebral palsy or motor neurone diseases are not recorded separately, but are likely to be included in the broad category of physical disability. The information is available here:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/special-educational-needs-in-england-january-2013
	Children with cerebral palsy may have multiple needs, so their classification will depend on which need has been identified as “primary” by the school or local authority.
	Information is not collected on the primary type of need for children with statements of SEN or School Action Plus educated at home (under the aegis of the local authority).

Elections: Northern Cyprus

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the results of recent elections in Northern Cyprus.

Baroness Warsi: We have noted the results of elections held by the Turkish Cypriot community on 28 July. in which the Turkish Republican Party (CIP) won 21 out of 50 seats. We await the outcome of interparty discussions and hope that the new coalition will support efforts for the reunification of Cyprus on the basis of a just, sustainable and comprehensive settlement.

Elections: St Helena

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the results of recent elections in St Helena.

Baroness Warsi: The Government welcome the election of the new legislative council for the St Helena Government. The election was well managed by the local authorities, and voter turnout was 55%. We hope that the new council will provide confident leadership to guide St Helena through the changes and opportunities arising from the airport development. The Governor and Her Majesty's Government look forward to working in partnership with the newly elected councillors to serve in the best interests of the people of St Helena.

Employers: Work Experience

Baroness Hughes of Stretford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many employers will be needed to offer work experience placements in each of the next five years for all 16–19 year olds undertaking (1) study programmes, (2) traineeships, and (3) apprenticeships; and what plans they have to encourage more employers to offer such placements.

Lord Nash: Provisional Data on the number of work experience placements needed for 16-18 year olds will be available in the autumn of 2014. Traineeships were made available from August 2013 and are a demand-led programme. The number of employers needed, will depend on the number of young people who wish to take up a traineeship. Apprenticeships are offered to existing employees so no work experience placements are involved.
	The Government’s strategy to encourage employers to offer work experience is based on encouraging schools and colleges to approach local employers. We have made it easier for employers to respond positively by revising and slimming down health and safety guidance, and confirmation that employers' liability insurance covers work experience placements.
	The Department for Education’s (DfE) reforms of 16-19 funding and the introduction of 16-19 study programmes in September set clear expectations on schools and colleges to expand the provision of work experience. The new Technical Level qualifications announced on 25 July 2013 will require work experience to form a part of the qualification or for employers to be involved in other ways.
	On a national level, the National Apprenticeship Service, DfE and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills have been working to raise employers’ awareness of apprenticeships, traineeships and the value of work experience through local and national events and visits to encourage them to participate.

Employers: Work Experience and Internships

Baroness Hughes of Stretford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many employers currently provide (1) work experience placements, and (2) internships, to people aged between 16 and 18; and what proportion of each are in the (a) public, and (b) private sector.

Lord Nash: We do not hold the information requested because schools have never been required to provide information about work experience for 16-18 year olds. For the first time, from September 2013, it will be a requirement for schools and colleges to record work experience by 16-18 year olds as part of Government plans to expand the provision of work experience for this age group. The information will, therefore, be available in future.

English for Speakers of Other Languages

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many persons enrolled for and completed English for Speakers of Other Languages courses at further education and other institutions in classes provided from public funds in the past ten years; and what proportion of those were provided free of charge.

Lord Popat: Table 1 below shows the number of all age learners who participated in and achieved one or more English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Skills for Life courses in the 2005/06 to 2011/12 academic years. Figures are not available on a comparable basis prior to 2005/06.
	Table 2 below shows the proportion of ESOL learners who participated and achieved in one or more fully-funded ESOL courses. Fully/partially-funded breakdowns are not available on a comparable basis prior to 2008/09. 2011/12 is the latest year for which full final data are available.
	
		
			 Table 1: All Age FE and Skills—Skills for Life ESOL Participation and Achievement (2005/06 to 20111/12) 
			  2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 
			 Number of learners who participated in an ESOL course 288,8001 227,000 207,400 203,000 192,400 176,000 150,900 
			 Number of learners who achieved an ESOL course 236,400 156,400 149,400 146,700 138,800 131,800 119,200 
		
	
	Source: Individualised Learner Record
	Notes:
	1. Learners undertaking more than one ESOL course during the academic year will be counted once.
	2. Figures for 2008/09 onwards are not directly comparable to earlier years as the introduction of demand led funding has changed how data is collected and how funded learners are defined from 2008/09 onwards. More information on demand led funding is available at: http://thedataservice.org.uk/datadictionary/businessdefinitions/Demand+Led+Funding.htm
	
		
			 Table 2: All Age FE and Skills—Proportion of Skills for Life ESOL Participation and Achievement that was fully-funded (2008/09 to 2011/12) 
			  2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 
			 Percentage of learners participating in ESOL with a fully-funded aim 53.5% 56.2% 1 59.9% 55.1% 
			 Percentage of learners with achievements in ESOL with a fully-funded aim 53 2% 55.7% 59.7% 553% 
		
	
	Source: Individualised Learner Record.

Ethiopia

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government , further to the Written Answer by Baroness Warsi on 20 June (WA 69), what is their latest assessment of the safety and welfare of the journalists Reeyot Alemu, Yusuf Getachew, Solomon Kebede, Eskinder Neya and Wubshet Taye, currently imprisoned in Ethiopia.

Baroness Warsi: We remain concerned by the imprisonment of journalists under Ethiopia's anti-terrorism legislation. The Deputy Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Hallam (Mr Clegg), discussed the arrest of journalists and opposition leaders with the Ethiopian Prime Minister on 17 June 2013. Our officials in Addis Ababa continue to raise the implementation of Ethiopia's anti-terrorism legislation with the Ethiopian authorities.

Finance: Exchange Traded Funds

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they or the Financial Conduct Authority have reviewed the management of exchange traded funds, their impact on financial stability and their appropriateness for retail investors.

Lord Deighton: In June this year, the International Organisation of Securities Commissions published principles for the international regulation of exchange traded products (ETPs). The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) participated in the working group for this report and is currently considering the application of these principles in the United Kingdom.
	The FCA also recently consulted on new marketing restrictions for a range of non mainstream pooled investments, including exchange traded funds and other ETPs. Following the consultation, the FCA did not apply any new restriction on the marketing of ETPs to retail investors.

Government Departments: Staff

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government , further to the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 10 January 2012 (WA 36–8), whether they will update the table showing how many members of Home Office staff have been convicted of criminal offences in each of the last five years; and, in each case, what was the name of the offender, the date and nature of the offence, and the sentence received.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: In the past five years there have been 37 convictions against 30 members of Home Office staff. The following table shows the breakdown of convictions and dates.
	
		
			 Name Charges Conviction date Sentence 
			 Collins OKELLO Facilitation, Misconduct in Public Office 2006 2 years 
			 Abid HUSSAIN Misconduct in public office 26 March 2007 3 1/2 years imprisonment 
			  Breaches of Immigration law   
			  Possession of a false instrument   
			 Alvaro FIGUEIREDO Misconduct in Public Office 1 October 2007 2 1/2 years 
			 Aisha Tokunbo AJIA Misconduct in Public Office 12 February 2008 3 1/2 years 
			 Mofeyishola Olabamigbe Uzoma JOHN-AYO Misconduct in Public Office 14 March 2008 9 years 
			 William SHUNGU Misconduct in public office 01 May 2008 16 months imprisonment 
			  Fraud   
			 Jahangir ALAM Misconduct in Public Office 6 June 2008 14 months 
			 Shareen Naomi PATTERSON Forgery 29 August 2008 2 1/2 years 
			 Babs CAREW Bribery 17 October 2008 3 years 
			 Eme ESUA Misconduct in Public Office+ Section 25 of the ID Cards Act 24 April 2009 3 years + 2 x 16 months concurrent 
		
	
	
		
			 Shannon FRANCIS Fraud 12 May 2009 12 months community order 
			 Aliya ALI Misconduct in Public Office 25 September 2009 5 years 
			 Olawunmi Rashidat MATTHEWS-AKUEMONKHAN Fraud 08 December 2009 2 1/2 years imprisonment 
			  Unlawfully obtaining personal data contrary to Data Protection Act   
			  Misuse of computers   
			 David HART Fraud 30 December 2009 18 months 
			 
			 
			 Dilip MORAR Fraud 04 February 2010 Sentenced to two custodial sentences of 12 months, each to run concurrently on 25 March 2010 and ordered to pay £6,469.84 compensation and £3000 costs. 
			 Anthony Davis QUARCO Misconduct in Public Office 2 March 2010 9 years 6 years; 
			  Proceeds of Crime Act Offences  5 years 
			  Facilitation  6 years 
			  ID Cards Act Offences  4 x 4 years; 3 x 2 years 
			 Bridget EWORTH (nee IDIGBE) Misconduct in Public Office 16 April 2010 6 years 
			 Arthur THALLAPALLY Misconduct in public office 10 August 2010 4 years imprisonment 
			  Fraud  Subsequent confiscation order to the value of £3,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act 
			 Atma SAWH Misconduct in Public Office 1 September 2010 5 years 
			 Peter CRUMBIE Facilitation 19 November 2010 12 Months 
			 Maryam JAVAID Misconduct in Public Office ID Cards Act offence 22 November 2010 2 years 
			 Latesha POLSON Fraud, Using a False Instrument 20 January 2011 100 hours community service + costs + compensation order 
			 Karanjit MAND Fraud, Misuse of Computers 4 April 2011 80 hours community service 
			 Shezad MUSSA Misconduct in Public Office 3 June 2011 12 months 
			 Somayeh RAHIMI NEJAD TAFRESHI Misconduct in public office 22 July 2011 4 years imprisonment 
		
	
	
		
			Subsequent confiscation order to the value of £25,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act 
			 Benjamin Aghogho ORORORO Misconduct in Public Office 26 August 2011 5 years 
			 Samuel SHOYEJU Misconduct in public office 10 November 2011 7 years 
			 Radhakrishnan KITTOOR RAMMAKRISHNAN Misconduct in public office and money laundering 05 December 2011 8 years 
			 Wayne DAVIS Misconduct in public office 07 December 2011 2 years 9 months 
			 Martin BARKER False Accounting 21 December 2011 6 months suspended 
			 Sherril-Ann CLARK Misconduct in Public Office 9 March 2012 4 years 3 months 
			 Jawahar HUNDAL Misconduct in Public Office 29 June 2012 4 years 
			 Rizwana BEG Misconduct in Public Office 13 July 2012 9 years 
			 James MOONEY Assisting Unlawful Immigration 16 October 2012 9 Months suspended, 240 hours community service, electronically tagged for 3 months. 
			 Waseem MAJID Misconduct in Public Office 15 May 2013 4 years

Health: Alpha-1 Antritrypsin Deficiency

Lord Turnberg: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to make augmentation therapy available for NHS patients with Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.

Earl Howe: The commissioning of services for people with alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency is a matter for individual clinical commissioning groups.
	The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) issued a partial update of its clinical guideline on the management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in adults in primary and secondary care (CG101) in June 2010 which states that alpha-1 antitrypsin replacement therapy (also known as augmentation therapy) is not recommended for patients with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.
	In the absence of positive NICE technology appraisal guidance, it is for clinical commissioning groups to make funding decisions on the use of this treatment.

Health: Anti-Coagulation Therapy

Baroness Gardner of Parkes: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of long-term warfarin users in England who have the opportunity to
	self-monitor their blood clotting levels; whether that number is increasing or decreasing; and what impact has been made on the NHS budget as a result of patients self-monitoring their blood clotting levels.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that all clinical commissioning groups in England have policies in place to encourage and support the use of self-monitoring by suitable warfarin and diabetic patients.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) which do not fund International Normalised Ratio self-monitoring devices for patients on NHS-prescribed anti-coagulation therapy; and what steps they are taking to ensure that all CCGs continue to make such test strips available on prescription.

Earl Howe: Responsibility for determining the overall national approach to improving clinical outcomes from healthcare services lies with NHS England.
	We are advised that NHS England has made no assessment of the number of long-term warfarin users in England who have the opportunity to self-monitor their blood clotting levels.
	It is for individual clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to commission treatment and services as they are best placed to identify what is needed in their local areas. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines and quality standards provide evidence on best practice and CCGs use these to help inform their commissioning intentions. NHS Improving Quality, working with the Strategic Clinical Networks, is supporting commissioners and providers to deliver the right services.

Health: Cancer

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to review the lower and upper age limits for screening for cervical cancer.

Earl Howe: The United Kingdom National Screening Committee (UK NSC) reviewed the age range of cervical screening in 2012. The UK NSC recommended that the age of first invitation for screening should be 25 on the basis that there is evidence of a large number of women screened and treated with relatively little benefit below this age. Screening women under the age of 25 has no impact on the rates of cervical cancer in young women, and gives rise to a high number of false positives, causing anxiety and leading to unnecessary investigations.
	The UK NSC also recommends that screening for women aged 25-49 should be undertaken three-yearly and screening for women aged 50-64 should be undertaken five-yearly. Women aged over 65 should only be screened if they have not been screened since age 50 or if they have had recent abnormal results.
	The UK NSC is due to review its policy on cervical screening in 2015-16.

Health: Gluten-free Products

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many clinical commissioning groups are restricting access to prescribed gluten-free products.

Earl Howe: Information about the number of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) restricting access to prescribed gluten-free products is not collected.
	There are no national restrictions on the prescribing of these products, provided that they have approval from the Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances (ACBS). CCGs may offer advice that gluten-free products should not routinely be prescribed, but they should not prevent general practitioners prescribing if there is a genuine clinical need.

Health: Meningitis B Vaccine

Lord Turnberg: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will engage in a population-based evaluation of Meningitis B vaccinations in adolescents, as advised by the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisation in its interim position statement on 24 July.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will undertake an evaluation of Meningitis B vaccinations in the infant population.

Earl Howe: On 24 July 2013, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) published an interim position statement on the use of Bexsero® meningococcal B (MenB) vaccine in the United Kingdom. The JCVI is seeking views on its statement from organisations that provided evidence to it. This consultation will last until 3 September 2013.
	In its interim statement, the JCVI concluded that there were limitations in the evidence currently available about the vaccine's effectiveness and cost-effectiveness, such as how well it protects against the serious illness which MenB infection can cause; how long it provides protection against MenB infection; and whether it stops MenB bacteria spreading from person to person.
	Therefore, the JCVI was not in a position to recommend a national MenB immunisation programme on the basis of current evidence, and noted that a population-based evaluation of the use of Bexsero® was required to obtain further evidence.
	The Department encourages the scientific community and the vaccine manufacturer to explore how the evidence necessary to enable the JCVI to make a clear recommendation might be obtained, and will work with them as appropriate in due course.

Health: Mental Health

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will issue guidance on the collation of statistics and the use of physical restraint in the light of the variation in the number of reported cases of such restraint recorded in the recent Mind report Mental health crisis care: physical restraint in crisis.

Earl Howe: Reporting on the incidence of the use of physical restraint has been collected as part of the Mental Health Minimum Dataset by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) since April 2012. Reporting on the use of physical restraint is not currently published by the HSCIC as part of any routine official statistics.
	As set out in Transforming care: a national response to Winterbourne View Hospital, published in December 2012, the Department, together with the Care Quality Commission and NHS England, is considering what further action may be needed to ensure providers monitor and record restraint consistently.
	The Mental Health Act Code of Practice (2008) states that all hospitals should have a policy on the management of disturbed behaviour, including clear written policies on the use of restraint and physical interventions. The Code specifies that any physical restraint should be justifiable and proportionate to the risk posed by the patient. Restraint should only be used as a last resort and used for only as long as is absolutely necessary. Where physical restraint is used staff should record the decision, the reasons for it and document and review the use of physical restraint.
	The Department has recently commissioned the Royal College of Nursing to work with a multi-disciplinary professional group and experts-by-experience to develop guidance on best practice so that physical restraint is only ever used as a last resort where the safety of individuals would otherwise be at risk and never to punish or humiliate. This will include guidance on definitions and reporting on the use of restraint.

Health: Mitochondrial Disease

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many respondents answered (1) positively, and (2) negatively, to question 2 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority’s consultation, Medical Frontiers: Debating mitochondria replacement.

Earl Howe: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that the open consultation to which the noble Lord refers was only one strand of the 'Medical Frontiers: Debating mitochondria replacement' public dialogue. Over 1,100 respondents answered question 2, which asked 'Do you
	think there are social and ethical implications to changing the germ line in the way the techniques do? If so, what are they?'.
	The analysis of the responses to this question, which the HFEA advises cannot be answered in simple yes/no terms, is available on the Authority's website at:
	www.hfea.gov.uk/docs/Mito-Annex_IV-questionnaire_report.pdf

Health: Mitochondrial Disease

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the social and ethical implications of the proposal to change the germ line as suggested in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority's consultation Medical Frontiers: Debating mitochondria replacement.

Earl Howe: We recognise that the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority's report of the consultation process for 'Medical Frontiers: Debating mitochondria replacement' refers to the techniques as being a form of germline modification. We also acknowledge the view expressed by the Nuffield Council for Bioethics Working Group, that these techniques could be regarded as a form of germline therapy, in that they introduce a change that is incorporated into an individual's mitochondrial genes, and this will be incorporated into the germline that they could go on to develop.
	However, we do not regard this as genetic modification as they do not involve altering the genes in the nuclear DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid). Mitochondrial DNA comprises a very small proportion of total DNA (0.1% - only 37 of some 20-30,000 genes) and scientists currently think that it only plays a role in energy production in the cell, not our physical and mental characteristics. It is the genes in our nuclear DNA, together with environmental factors, that shape physical characteristics.

Healthcare: Costs

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government , further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 16 July (WA 110), why the payment by the United Kingdom to the Republic of Ireland for pensioner healthcare costs went down from £329,322,920 in 2011–12 to £246,828,154 in 2012–13; whether they forecast that that trend will be maintained; whether the suggested changes in Sustaining services, ensuring fairness require identical arrangements for Irish pensioners living in the United Kingdom as for other European Union pensioners; and, if so, whether the current charging agreement with the Republic of Ireland will end.

Earl Howe: The reduction in payments to Ireland between 2011-12 and 2012-13 is due primarily to a reduction in the number of pensioners for whom the United Kingdom is responsible, and a favourable change in the Sterling/Euro exchange rate. We expect
	to benefit from further downward pressure on pensioner numbers in future years but such changes could be either supplemented or offset by further currency movements.
	European Economic Area-wide regulations and directives determine responsibility for the costs of healthcare for citizens in different circumstances, but Member States have the flexibility to enter into agreements as to how such responsibilities are administered. The Government has yet to consider, and to agree with the Irish Government, whether to continue, terminate or amend its current such agreement.

Higher Education: Loans

Baroness Sharp of Guildford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many applications there have been for Advanced Learning Loans for the 2013–14 academic year; and whether that number is below or above the target anticipated by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The Government has made available £129 million and £398 million for 24+ Advanced Learning Loans in 2013-14 and 2014-15. This can support around 80,000 learner starts in the first year, rising to 200,000 in the second year.
	It is too early to say what the overall take-up of 24+ Advanced Learning Loans will be on the basis of early application data. Following discussions with the sector we expect application numbers to increase as we get closer to the start of the academic year. The rate of applications has continued to increase since the system was launched on 8 April 2013.
	Application data is published regularly on the Data Service website, with the next set of figures due on 15 August. A July release illustrated that at the end of June there were a total of 8,682 applications.

Higher Education: Loans

Baroness Sharp of Guildford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what efforts are being made to inform potential learners about the existence of Advanced Learning Loans.

Lord Newby: The Government has made available £129 million and £398 million for 24+ Advanced Learning Loans in 2013-14 and 2014-15. This can support around 80,000 learner starts in the first year, rising to 200,000 in the second year.
	The Department and its delivery partners have worked closely with the sector so that they are able to provide all the relevant information that learners need. This has been supported by a dedicated practitioner website containing the required materials that have been indentified as important to help colleges and training organisations explain loans to learners.
	Several sector events have taken place over spring summer to ensure colleges and training organisations are prepared and able to provide clear and accurate information to learners.

Higher Education: Loans

Baroness Sharp of Guildford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why a limit of £60 per week has been placed on childcare costs in respect of the deployment by older students of Advanced Learning Loans; and what consultation took place prior to that limit being put in place.

Lord Newby: The Skills Funding Agency has allocated Bursary Fund budgets to colleges and training organisations who expect to deliver provision funded by 24+ Advanced Learning Loans in 2013/14.
	No limit on expenditure for childcare has been set within these allocations. Individual colleges and training organisations have been given the discretion to decide their own criteria for awarding Bursary Fund support.

Hissène Habré

The Earl of Sandwich: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what has been the total cost to the European Union of Hissène Habré's custody arrangements in Senegal since his indictment in 2000; and what proportion of any cost has been paid by (1) the European Union, and (2) the United Kingdom.

Baroness Warsi: There has been no cost to the European Union or the United Kingdom for Hissène Habré’s custody arrangements since his indictment in 2000. Since June 2013 the European Union has contributed 2 million Euros to the overall budget of the “Extraordinary African Chambers”, the special court set up within the Senegalese judicial system for Mr Habre's trial.

Homelessness: Armed Forces

Lord Rogan: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action the Ministry of Defence are taking to tackle the issue of former members of the Armed Forces sleeping rough on the streets.

Lord Astor of Hever: The 2012-13 figures reported by the Combined Homelessness and Information Network indicate that 3% of those found sleeping rough in London claim to have served in our Armed Forces. This represents a 1% decrease against the previous year. We would like to bring it down further.
	In order to minimise the risk of service personnel becoming homeless on leaving the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has introduced a number of home buying initiatives, such as an advance of salary which is then repaid over a 12 year period—interest free—and the Armed Forces Home Ownership Scheme.
	To assist the transition of serving personnel to civilian life, the MoD offers a wide-ranging resettlement programme which includes a briefing by the Joint Services Housing Advice Office. This offers advice and information about a range of products that Armed Forces personnel may find useful relating to an individual's housing needs before they leave the Armed Forces.
	In addition, the MoD has supported the establishment of two supported housing schemes for ex-service personnel—Mike Jackson House in Aldershot, which opened in 2008 and The Beacon at Catterick, which opened to residents in September 2011. The focus is on helping individuals to develop independent living skills and with finding suitable “move on”/ permanent accommodation, training and employment. Both schemes are managed by Riverside English Churches Housing Group
	Once a person leaves service, any need for social housing becomes a local authority matter. The MoD is working closely with the Department for Communities and Local Government to ensure the fair treatment of service families in need of social housing and ensure they are given proper priority on housing waiting lists.

Houses of Parliament: Freedom of Information

Lord Wills: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of freedom of information requests made by MPs and members of the House of Lords have been (1) responded to within the statutory deadline, and (2) refused, by each Department of State in each of the last five years.

Lord Popat: Freedom of Information (FOI) requests submitted by MPs and members of the House of Lords to each Department of State cannot he distinguished centrally from those submitted by other individuals. Details of the requestor are not collated centrally.
	The Ministry of Justice does, however, record internally whether a requestor is a Member of Parliament. This is drawn from an internal case management system introduced in 2009. This information can be found in Table 1:
	
		
			 Table I: Outcomes and Timeliness of FOI Requests submitted by MPs to the Ministry of Justice 
			  2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 Percentage of requests answered within the statutory deadline 76% 87% 87% 81% 
			 Percentage of requests refused under the cost limit 24% 36% 30% 26% 
		
	
	
		
			 Percentage of responses exempt from fill disclosure 0% 43% 37% 15% 
			 Number of requests received 17 47 63 27 
		
	
	In the Ministry of Justice, a request is only refused when the cost limit is exceeded, or when the request is repeated or considered vexatious in nature. However, the only refused requests from MPs were under the cost limit. Where a full response is withheld (rather than refused), this is because the information concerned is exempt from disclosure under the Act.

Housing

The Earl of Courtown: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many residential properties have been sold since May
	2010; how many residential properties were sold between 2007 and 2010; and what amount of stamp duty revenue from property sales was generated during those periods.

Lord Deighton: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) collect data on the number of residential property transaction completions with a value of £40,000 or above.
	In the 34 months between June 2010 and March 2013 inclusive, there were a total of 2.6 million such transactions recorded. The total Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) revenue collected from residential property transactions in this period was £12.6 billion.
	In the 34 months between August 2007 and May 2010 inclusive, there were 2.7 million residential transactions and the total residential SDLT revenue collected was £11.0 billion.
	A full monthly time series of UK residential transaction numbers is published on HMRC’s website (Table 5)1.
	The table below shows SDLT yield for each financial year split by residential and non-residential property transactions.
	
		
			 SDLT Revenue £m 
			  2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13* 
			 UK total 7,455 9,635 9,955 4,795 4,885 5,960 6,125 6,910 
			 Residential 4,585 6,375 6,680 2,950 3,290 4,040 4,220 4,900 
			 Non-residential 2,870 3,260 3,280 1,845 1,595 1,920 1,910 2,010 
		
	
	*provisional
	1
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/transactions/val-40000-or-above.pdf

Human Rights

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many and which cases have been successfully brought to the European Court of Human Rights, and over which breaches of the Convention, from Northern Ireland since 1980; which were appealed; and which appeals were successful.

Lord McNally: There have been 52 judgments by the European Court of Human Rights finding a violation in cases involving Northern Ireland since 1 January 1980. The names of the cases with the Article or Articles violated in each case are listed in the table attached.
	The European Convention on Human Rights does not provide an appeal. Rather, within three months of the date of the judgment of a Chamber, any party to the case may request that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber of the Court.
	Two of the judgments listed were by the Grand Chamber and are marked by an asterisk. In each case, the Grand Chamber heard the case after the Chamber decided to relinquish jurisdiction to the Grand Chamber.
	The information requested is publicly available on the website of the European Court of Human Rights. Searches can be conducted at: http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/eng/Pages/search.aspx. The table attached was compiled using the information publicly available and accessible on the Court’s website.
	
		
			  Case Name Articles violated 
			 1. Dudgeon Art 8 
			 2. Orchin Art 6-1 
			 3. Farrell Art 2 (Friendly settlement) 
			 4. Fox, Campbell & Hartley Art 5-1, 5-5 
			 5. Brogan & others Art 5-3, 5-5 
			 6. McEldowney Art 5-3, 5-5 
			 7. McGovern Art 5-3, 5-5 
			 8. O’Hagan Art 5-3, 5-5 
			 9. McKeown Art 5-3, 5-5 
			 10. Larmour Art 5-3, 5-5 
			 11. Burns Art 5-3, 5-5 
			 12. Mullin Art 5-3, 5-5 
			 13. Clinton Art 5-5, 5-1 
			 14. Simpson Art 5-5, 5-1 
			 15. Maguire Art 5-5, 5-1 
			 16. McGeown Art 5-5, 5-1 
			 17. Murrey Art 5-5, 5-1 
			 18. Campbell Art 5-5, 5-1 
			 19. Smyth Art 5-5, 5-2, 5-1 
			 20. Breslin Art 5-1 
			 21. Connelly Art 5-1 
			 22. McGuinnes Art 5-1 
		
	
	
		
			 23. L Art 5-1 
			 24. M Art 5-1 
			 25. N Art 5-1 
			 26. McCann & others* Art 2 – Grand Chamber 
			 27. John Murray* Art 6-1, 6-1(C) 
			 28. Tinnelly & Sons Ltd & others & McElduff Art 6-1 
			 29. Quinn Art 6-1, 6-1(C) 
			 30. Devenney Art 6-1 
			 31. Magee Art 6-1, 6-1(C) 
			 32. O’Hara Art 5-3, 5-5 
			 33. McKerr Art 2 
			 34. Kelly & Others Art 2 
			 35. Shanaghan Art 2 
			 36. Jordan Art 2 
			 37. Averill Art 6-1, 6-1(C) 
			 38. McShane Art 2, Art 34 
			 39. Brennan Art 6-3(C), 6-1 
			 40. Devlin Art 6-1 
			 41. Finucane Art 2 
			 42. Shannon Art 6-1 
			 43. McGrath Art 2 
			 44. Brecknell Art 2 
			 45. Reavey Art 2 
			 46. O’Dowd Art 2 
			 47. McCartney Art 2 
			 48. Gault Art 5-3 
			 49. McNamee Art 14 in conjunction with Art 1 Protocol 1 
			 50. M.M Art 8 
			 51. Hemsworth Art 2 
			 52. McCaughy Art 2

Immigration

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the decision to deploy mobile billboards proclaiming that people who are in the United Kingdom illegally should go home or face arrest was made; when the mobile billboards were ordered; whether their use will be extended into other areas; and for how long they will be deployed.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Home Office is improving the visibility of its immigration law enforcement. This pilot has been in development since March 2013.
	The mobile advertisement boards were formally ordered through a procurement process. Enquiries for the procurement process began on 24 June 2013.
	This is a pilot scheme, therefore, depending on the success of the pilot, the use of the mobile billboards may be extended into other areas. The mobile billboards were deployed for one week commencing 22 July 2013 and finishing on 28 July.

Immigration

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what procedures will be put in operation when a person surrenders to the police as a result of reading a mobile billboard proclaiming that people who are in the United Kingdom illegally should go home or face arrest; and in particular whether they will be immediately taken into custody.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: It is hoped that those who read the message on the mobile billboards will take the suggested advice to text the Home Office to arrange their voluntary departure.
	Home Office immigration enforcement works closely with the Metropolitan Police Service and has a number of immigration officers embedded in police custody suites under the Operation Nexus campaign. In cases where individuals are seeking to depart voluntarily, they are referred back to immigration enforcement to assist. Any decision to arrest will be based on individual cases, based on the threat posed by the individual. It is unlikely that the individual will be taken into custody if they choose to depart voluntarily.

Immigration

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what approval procedures took place under the coalition agreement, and at what level, before the decision was made to deploy mobile billboards proclaiming that people who are in the United Kingdom illegally should go home or face arrest.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: An operational tactic to deploy mobile billboards as part of a campaign to improve awareness of Immigration Enforcement activity and encourage voluntary departures was presented to the Immigration Minister, Mark Harper MP. On the basis that this was a pilot within the clear sole responsibility of the Home Office, cross Government agreement was not necessary.

Immigration

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government at the request of which Government Department was the “Go home or face arrest” billboard campaign prepared and displayed.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: An operational tactic to deploy mobile billboards as part of a campaign to improve awareness of Immigration Enforcement activity and encourage voluntary departures was presented to the Immigration Minister, Mark Harper MP. On the basis that this was a pilot within the sole responsibility of the Home Office, cross Government agreement was not necessary.

Immigration

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what London boroughs have been covered by mobile “Go home or face arrest” billboard campaign vans.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The following London boroughs have been covered by the mobile vans: Barnet, Hounslow, Barking and Dagenham, Ealing, Brent and Redbridge.

Immigration: Children

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the Home Office ascertains and takes into account the wishes and feelings of children before making decisions to hold parents in immigration detention, continue their detention, or deport or forcibly remove them; and how the Home Office's duties to safeguard children and promote their welfare under section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 are implemented in such situations.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Where detention of an immigration offender, or continued detention in the case of a criminal who is already separated from his family by virtue of the custodial sentence passed by the courts, will affect a pre-existing family unit it is our practice to ensure that safeguarding child welfare issues are taken into account, and weighed against the need to detain and implement deportation or removal. In such cases close attention is given to Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and Article 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The aims of both these are supported by paragraphs 396 to 400 of the Immigration Rules. These changes were introduced on 9 July 2012 so as to deliver in individual cases where a parent is liable to deportation outcomes that are compatible with the two conventions mentioned and with Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009. In all such cases we are open to discovering the views of the children concerned. This is done principally through the parents and others who are in close contact with the children and are trusted by them.

Internet: Pornography

Baroness Benjamin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to publicise Crown Prosecution Service guidance relating to non-United Kingdom websites which provide explicit hardcore pornography equivalent to that classified R18 by the British Board of Film Classification and the compliance of such websites with the Obscene Publications Act 1959 in cases where content is downloaded in the United Kingdom and no suitable age verification measures are in place to prevent children accessing the material.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: CPS Legal Guidance on Obscene Publications is published on the CPS website and is widely available. The guidance makes it clear that whether or not material is behind a suitable
	payment barrier or other accepted means of age verification will be an important factor in any prosecution decision.

Israel

Lord Judd: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to their statements on the responsibility of United Kingdom security companies operating in Israel and the obligations in the Fourth Geneva Convention in respect of the Israeli Prison Service, what discussions they have had with the police and Crown Prosecution Service on any apparent breach of the Convention.

Lord McNally: I can confirm that no conversations have taken place between the Government and UK police forces or the Crown Prosecution. However, as previously stated we have made clear to Israeli authorities, including the Minister for Prison Affairs and the Attorney-General, our concerns about Israel’s treatment of Palestinian detainees. As noted by Alistair Burt, the Foreign Office Minister, we have also discussed this with G4S who have confirmed they will not renew a number of security contracts in the West Bank.

Local Authorities: Weekend Services

Lord Mawhinney: To ask Her Majesty’s Government (1) how many, and (2) what proportion of, appropriate local authorities provide the same social care facilities and services to their clients on Saturdays and Sundays as they provide from Mondays to Fridays.

Earl Howe: The Government do not collect centrally information on services provided by local authorities to their clients. A person's need for care and support remains the same at the weekend as it is during the week, and this will be reflected in the care plan the person agrees with their local authority. Many services provided or commissioned by local authorities continue to be provided over the weekend but there may be limited access for referral and assessment. In cases of an emergency, all local authorities operate an emergency duty system and it is now becoming more common for local authorities to offer an extended referral and assessment service in acute hospitals.

Luxembourg Compromise

Lord Jopling: To ask Her Majesty’s Government , further to the Written Answer by Lord Deighton on 24 July (WA 211), whether they will now answer the question asked about the number of times the Luxembourg
	Compromise has been invoked, and by which member state, and to what effect; and whether they will explain the working of the convention with regard to the need to be supported by a blocking minority.

Lord Deighton: The Luxembourg Compromise is a convention which has not been formalised and the procedure for invoking it is not defined. However it remains in place following the entry of the Lisbon Treaty.
	Member States who have invoked the Luxembourg Compromise in previous negotiations, have formally raised their concerns in Council. Due to the confidential nature of the negotiating positions taken by other Member States, it is not for HMG to comment on which Member States have invoked the Luxembourg Compromise and to what effect.

Luxembourg Compromise

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask Her Majesty’s Government , further to the Written Answer by Lord Deighton on 24 July (WA 211), what was the origin and purpose of the Luxembourg Compromise; how many times it has been used; and to what effect.

Lord Deighton: The Luxembourg Compromise is a convention which has not been formalised and the procedure for invoking it is not defined. However remains in place following the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty.
	Its origins stem from a set of non-binding conclusions entered into the 28-29 January 1966 European Council minutes. The Council Statement states:
	“Where, in the case of decisions which may betaken by majority vote on a proposal of the Commission, very important interests of one or more partners are at stake, the Members of the Council will endeavour, within a reasonable time, to reach solutions which can be adopted by all the Members of the Council while respecting their mutual interest and those of the Community, in accordance with Article 2 of the Treaty”.
	Member States who have invoked the Luxembourg Compromise in previous negotiations, have formally raised their concerns in Council. Due to the confidential nature of the negotiating positions taken by other Member States, it is not for HMG to comment on which Member States have invoked the Luxembourg Compromise and to what effect.

Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill

Lord Mawhinney: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether responses organised by campaign groups to their consultation on the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill were classified as individual responses for the purposes of analysing the data in the document Equal marriage: the Government's response; if not, why not; and who was responsible for making the decision on classification of the responses.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: All responses to the equal marriage consultation were treated as individual responses for the analysis of the data exercise and were taken into account as part of the Government's response. This included around 75,000 responses identified as being part of a campaign. Where responses were received from organisations who described themselves as such, these were coded as organisational responses to allow more detailed exploration of the points raised. Petitions were not treated as responses to the consultation but these were qualitatively considered and are set out in Annex B of the Government's response. This was published on 11 December 2012. The decision on classification of the responses was agreed by Ministers.

NHS: Accident and Emergency Departments

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the decision to close Cheltenham’s Accident and Emergency Department at night; and what advice they will provide to the residents of East Gloucestershire who will be affected by the closure.

Earl Howe: The reconfiguration of local health services is a matter for the National Health Service locally. We understand that changes to emergency care services at Cheltenham General Hospital at night time (8pm to Sam) were implemented on 29 July 2013. This change was implemented following a public consultation which ran from 1 February to 3 May 2013 (for a period of 13 weeks). We are advised that these proposals were approved by Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group and subsequently by the Gloucestershire Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee on 4 June 2013.

NHS: Clinical Services

Lord Turnberg: To ask Her Majesty’s Government , in the light of the report in the British Medical Journal on 10 July (page 347), how many NHS clinical services have been advertised since 1 April; and what were those services.

Earl Howe: Procurement has long been established in the National Health Service as a way of securing higher quality services and better value for the taxpayer. There has been no change to the requirements on commissioners to advertise clinical services.
	Since 1 April 2013, there have been 159 adverts for NHS clinical services advertised on the Supply2l-lealth website.
	The adverts include the following services:
	- 24 Hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring Service;- A Quest for Quality in Care Homes;- Acute Visiting Service;- Adult (over 16) Direct Access Physiotherapy Service;- Adult Mental Health Services;- Altogether Better Tender To Deliver an Innovation Nub to support its BIG Lottery Health & Wellbeing Portfolio (May 2013- March 2015);- Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions (ACSC) and Traditional Ambulatory Care Services;- Anticoagulation Service;- Asperger's Syndrome and ADHD Services;- Assisted Conception Service;- Asylum Seeker Initial Accommodation Centre Health Service;- Birth Preparation and Parent Education Service;- Carbon-13 urea breath testing for Helicobacter pylori in patients with dyspepsia post eradication with triple therapy;- Carers' Centre, Carers' Support Service;- Children & Young people's community therapy Services;- Children's and Adults Community and Domiciliary Phlebotomy Services;- Children's Physiotherapy;- Communications and Marketing Service for Integrated Care Programme;- Community & Domiciliary Phlebotomy Service;- Community Adult (over 16) Direct Access Physiotherapy Service;- Community Based Cataract Service;- Community Dermatology Services;- Community Diabetes Service;- Community Direct Access Echocardiogram service;- Community Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Service;- Community Eye Service;- Community Glaucoma Network Service;- Community Gynaecology Service; - Community HIV Prevention and Support Services;- Community Maternity Services;- Community Ophthalmology Service;- Community Phlebotomy Service;- Community Respiratory Care Services;- Community Respiratory Nursing Service;- Community Services Tender;- Community Specialist Palliative Care and End of Life Integrated Service;- Comprehensive Counselling Service;- Consultant Led Community Dermatology Services;- Continuing Care Plan;
	- Continuing Healthcare (Long term conditions);- Continuing Healthcare in Care Homes with Nursing;- Contract for the provision of Interim Non-Weight Bearing Beds and External Assessment and Rehabilitation Bed Services;- Death in Custody Clinical Reviewers;- Dementia Support Worker Service;- Dental Decontamination Services;- Dermatology Services;- DEXA Scanning Service;- Diabetes Structured Patient Education Programmes;- Direct Access Endoscopy Service;- Direct Access Non-Obstetric Ultrasound Service;- Domestic Violence & Abuse Identification Referral to Improve Safety;- Domiciliary Care for basic Continuing Healthcare and End of Life Fastrack;- Domiciliary Continuing Healthcare Services for Adults and Older People;- Early Involvement and Prevention Services for Adults;- ECG Services in Primary Care;- Elective Orthopaedic Services;- Endo Bronchial Ultra Sound EBUS;- Evaluation of the Progress of Talking Therapies Service;- Expert Patients Programme;- Falls Responder Service;- Framework Agreement for the provision of 60 Interim Beds (3 lots of 20 beds);- Framework Agreement for the provision of Winter Interim External Beds;- General Medical Services;- Glaucoma Referral Refinement Service;- GP Direct Access X-Ray;- GP Registered Patient service;- GPN Community Service;- Health & Medical Assessments/Screening service for prospective Foster carers and Adoptive Parents; - Healthcare and Forensic Medical Examination Services within Police Custody and Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARC);- Help to Live At Home Service;- Home Enteral Feeds Service;- Home Oxygen Assessment and Review Service;- IAPT, Primary Care Counselling and Supported Employment Services;- Improving access to Psychological therapies;- Individual Care Package;- Integrated Adult Community Substance Misuse Treatment and Recovery Service;- Integrated Care Programme;- Integrated Community Diabetes Service; - Integrated Community Diabetes Specialist Nurse Service;
	- Integrated Community Equipment Services;- Integrated Community Sexual Health and Contraception Services;- Integrated Offender Health Care;- Integrated Older People's Pathway & Adult Community Services;- Integrated Sexual Health Service;- Learning Disability Service providers;- Locked & Unlocked Rehabilitation Services and equivalent Community Provision (Mental Health & Learning Disabilities);- Mental Health Advocacy;- Mental Health Recovery Day Services;- Mental Health Service Users Involvement;- Minor Injury Unit;- Minor Sports Injury Service (pilot);- Minor Surgery and Dermatology service;- Modernising Mental Health Services;- MSK (Physiotherapy) Services;- MSK Services;- Musculoskeletal Integrated Clinical Assessment and Treatment Service;- NHS Continuing Healthcare Services;- Non-Emergency Patient Transport Service;- Non-Scalpel & Scalpel Vasectomy Service;- Obesity Support Worker;- Ophthalmology Referral Refinement Service;- Out of Hours Primary Care Services;- Out of Hours Services;- Paediatric Occupational Therapy Service; Paediatric Speech and Language Therapy Services;- Palliative and Supportive End of Life Care Beds Service;- Pathology Services;- Patient Placement Programme;- Prevention in Asthma: reviews for Children and Young People;- Primary Care Carer Support Service; Primary Care Education College; - Primary Care Psychological Therapies Service;- Prison based services for offenders who present a high risk of serious harm to others and are likely to have personality disorder;- Prison Health Care Services;- Procurement of GP referred Phlebotomy Services;- Professional Pharmaceutical Services and Supply of Medicines;- Psychological Therapy Services;- Referral Management Service;- Shared Records Service;- Short Breaks and Respite Care Services for Children and Young People with Disabilities; - Short-Term Alternative Provider Medical Service Contract;
	- Specialist Musculoskeletal Service incorporating a Persistent Pain Self-Management Service;- Stroke ESD Service;- Structured Diabetes Education Service for People with Diabetes;- Supply of enteral feeds, associated equipment, consumables and related nursing services;- Supported Accommodation;- Tailored Dispensing Service;- Tier 1 Dental Conscious Sedation Service;- Triage and Community Treatment;- Urgent Care Centre;- Urgent Care Centre, GP Out of Hours & Care of the Homeless Services;- Volunteer Community Car Service; and- Walk in Services.
	Note: Duplicate services have been removed.

Northern Ireland Parades Commission

Lord Kilclooney: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, prior to the determination on a proposed Orange Institution parade past Ardoyne on 12 July, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, or anyone else from that Department, had discussions with the Northern Ireland Parades Commission about the matter.

Baroness Randerson: Determinations are an operational matter for Parades Commission, acting independently of Government, in exercise of their powers under the Public Processions (NI) Act 1998.
	The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and officials from her Department were involved in a series of routine meetings involving the Parades Commission and other agencies in the months preceding the 12 July parade. These meetings involved general discussions on progress of the parading season in Northern Ireland but did not involve discussions about operational matters relating to specific parades, including the proposed Orange Institution parade past Ardoyne on 12 July.

Overseas Aid

Baroness Goudie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the United Kingdom aid budget for (1) 2012–13, and (2) 2013–14.

Lord Popat: The United Kingdom's aid budget is set on a calendar year basis to align with the Government's commitment to spend 0.56% of gross national income as official development assistance in 2012 and 0.7% from 2013 onwards. Based on projections of gross national Income updated at the 2013 Budget, the estimated funding required to deliver this commitment
	is £11,164 million in 2013 and £11,609 million in 2014. The provisional out-turn for aid spending in 2012 is £8,620 million.

Police: Covert Operations

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what procedures are in place within police forces for the authorisation of the use of dead children's identities for the purposes of covert police operations; and at what level within a police force authorisation of such actions has to be made.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether at any time Home Office agreement has been sought to the use of dead children's identities for the purposes of covert police operations.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have identified any police forces, apart from the Metropolitan Police Service, which have used the identities of dead children for the purposes of covert police operations.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Senior police officers have made clear, including to the Home Affairs Select Committee, that this is not a practice that currently takes place in forces and, furthermore, that it would not be permitted under the regulatory system that is now in place. There is no evidence that authority for such practices was ever sought from the Home Office.
	Chief Constable Mick Creedon, who leads Operation Herne, published an interim report on the use of deceased children's identities on 16 July 2013. In it he indicated that his team has not yet researched covert policing tactics in forces beyond the Metropolitan Police. However, as the routine use of undercover policing developed in parallel to the work of the Metropolitan Police Service's Special Demonstration Squad, Mr Creedon has also suggested that it is highly possible that the use of details of deceased children was more widely practised.

Police: Covert Operations

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the recent public apology by the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service for the use of dead children's identities for covert police operations, whether they will consider (1) referring those actions to the Director of Public Prosecutions for consideration of possible prosecutions, and (2) asking the Commissioner whether individual parents of those children will be informed of the conduct of the Metropolitan Police.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Operation Herne, which is investigating this issue, is led by Chief Constable Mick Creedon. It is for Chief Constable Creedon to judge whether there is sufficient evidence to make referrals to the Director of Public Prosecutions. An interim report on the use of deceased children's identities
	was published by Operation Herne on 16 July 2013. This indicated that independent legal advice had been sought through the Crown Prosecution Service about whether an offence had been committed. That advice concluded that “it is unlikely that the dishonesty necessary to make out an offence would be present”.
	The Operation Herne report recognised the strong case in favour of informing families, but there is also a strong case for protecting volunteer undercover officers who have done nothing wrong other than following established instructions on how to establish their undercover identity. The decision has been taken by the police not to inform individual families and the Government do not plan to ask for that decision to be changed.

Police: Covert Operations

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether HM Passport Office has been involved at any time in the creation of false identities for police officers from the identities of dead children.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Her Majesty's Passport Office has no record of having been involved in the creation of false identities for police officers from the identities of dead children.

Police: Undercover Policing

Lord Ouseley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 17 July (WA 149–50), whether the allegations concerning Mohammed Amran in Bradford and Charles Critchlow in Manchester will also be investigated by Chief Constable Mick Creedon as part of Operation Herne, or whether that investigation will be limited to undercover deployment by the Metropolitan Police Service.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: These allegations are not being investigated by Operation Herne. They were referred by West Yorkshire Police and Greater Manchester Police to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). The IPCC announced on 26 July that they will investigate the referral by West Yorkshire Police but, owing to there being no evidence of misconduct in the Greater Manchester Police referral, they are remitting this allegation back to the force.

Prisoners: Children

Lord Wills: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of children in England and Wales who have one or two parents in prison.

Lord Popat: Information on the number of children with parents in prison is not routinely collected. However, it is estimated that 93,000 children had a parent in prison at the end of June 2009. Over the entire year (2009), it is estimated that 200,000 children experienced the imprisonment of at least one parent at some point. This estimate is based on the number of individuals in prison in 2009 and the average number of children (1.1 children each) reported by prisoners in a large representative survey (Surveying Prisoner Crime Reduction - SPCR - a survey of prisoners sentenced to between one month and four years in England and Wales in 2005 and 2006).

Prisoners: Children

Lord Wills: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of prisoners in England and Wales who had one or two parents in prison.

Lord Popat: Prisoners are not routinely asked whether their parents were imprisoned. However, SPCR found that 37% of prisoners reported having family members who had been convicted of a non-motoring criminal offence, of whom 84% had been in prison, a young offenders' institution or borstal. Most of these convicted family members were male (in 56% of the cases that person was their brother or step-brother and 35% their father or step-father).
	The full SPCR Children and Families report is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/217401/prisoners-childhood-family-backgrounds.pdf.

Prisoners: Children

Lord Wills: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they are taking to support children in England and Wales who have one or two parents in prison.

Lord Popat: We know from the evidence that supporting prisoners’ children and families is important for two reasons: It can help reduce reoffending; and help reduce the likelihood of intergenerational offending by addressing the poor outcomes faced by children of offenders.
	I have referred to the numbers of children affected by parental imprisonment in my preceding answer. Research tells us that children with parents in prison are more vulnerable than other children. They are more likely to become offenders themselves, to develop behavioural problems and poor psychological health than children who have not had a parent in prison and they may lose contact with their imprisoned mother or father.
	The importance of supporting offenders' families is reflected both in strategic objectives and operational instructions: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) Commissioning Intentions for 2013/14 set out the Agency's assessment of service need and demand and intended priorities for services, sets an expectation
	on Prisons and Probation to maintain investment and work with Local Authority partners to support offenders families.
	Prison Service Instructions on Rehabilitation outline expectations on Prisons to: help staff recognise the impact of imprisonment on prisoners’ families and to understand their role in the maintenance of family relationships and supporting offenders’ families; to provide advice, support, signposting and referral of prisoners to services; and to reflect the involvement of families in the Offender Management process.
	Minimum standards on how Prisons support family visitors include: visiting times which maximise opportunities for prisoners and families to meet; ensuring opportunities for reasonable physical contact; facilities for children to play whilst visiting; decent, indoor facilities with toilets and baby changing facilities. NOMS encourages additional activities such as: enhanced children’s play facilities; family support worker services; family days and child centred visits; homework clubs: use of Release On Temporary Licence as part of the plans for resettlement renewing family ties; and delivery of relationship and parenting skills enhancement programmes.
	Following a successful pilot, NOMS has let a national framework contract for family engagement workers. Prisons can call off a service tailored to local circumstances. NOMS is working with The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to improve the commissioning of parenting and relationship skills programmes for offenders through better targeting of offender and family need and partnership approaches.
	Delivery of services to the children and families of offenders must be considered in the context of the Government's wider approach to supporting families. Tackling Troubled Families is a priority for this Government and supporting offenders' families is an important aspect of this work. This involves taking a partnership approach to whole family support.
	The Troubled Families Programme in England, the Welsh Government's Families First programme and their Integrated Family Support Service are important initiatives for NOMS. Many members of the families involved with these programmes will either be in the criminal justice system already or be at risk of entering the system. Intervening positively in the lives of these families has the potential to reduce the impact on demand for criminal justice services.
	The MoJ has provided a substantial funding contribution to the Programme and has been closely involved with CLG and other Government departments in ongoing development of the rum me and ensuring that frontline justice sector workers are fully engaged, many of whom will already have considerable knowledge and experience of working with troubled families.
	Officials in NOMS are working with the Department for Education to launch a new contracted online and telephone service in September. This will provide an innovative, national knowledge and advice centre to support commissioners of services and professionals working with families of offenders, including prisons, Probation Trusts, Youth Offending Teams, local authorities and voluntary organisations.
	Finally, as part of Transforming Rehabilitation: A Strategy for Reform, we are putting in place an unprecedented nationwide 'through the prison gate' resettlement service, meaning most offenders are given continuous support by one provider from custody into the community. We will support this by ensuring that most offenders are held in a prison designated to their area for at least three months before release. This should provide both better opportunities to support contact with families and links with local partners and providers of support services. In custody, providers will offer a resettlement service for all offenders in custody before their release. This may include family support where it is needed.

Prisoners: Indeterminate Sentences for Public Protection

Lord Ramsbotham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people serving indeterminate sentences for public protection were approved for release on temporary licence in each of the past three years.

Lord Popat: The information requested is not available through central systems as the total number of releases on temporary licence granted can not be separated by offence type.

Prisoners: Indeterminate Sentences for Public Protection

Lord Ramsbotham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people serving indeterminate sentences for public protection, by sentence type, have completed offending behaviour programmes, (1) pre-tariff, and (2) post-tariff, in each of the past three years.

Lord Popat: Table 1 shows the number of IPP prisoners who have completed at least one accredited offending behaviour programme by tariff status.
	This information is provided as a snapshot at the end of the financial years of 2011/12 and 2012/13. The offender data used to identify accredited programme completions for prisoners serving indeterminate sentences for public protection is taken from previously published information on indeterminate sentence prisoners. As December 2011 was the first period in which this data was published, a snapshot of accredited programme completions for 2010/11 is not available.
	Please note that non-accredited programme completions have not been included as the numbers of completions are not collected centrally. To provide additional context the table also shows the percentage of IPPs with an accredited programme completion at the end of each period.
	
		
			 Table 1: The number of IPP prisoners who have completed at least one accredited offending behaviour programme by tariff status 
			  Q4 2011/12 Q4 2012/13 
			 Pre-Tariff 1,452 1,344 
			 Post-Tariff 3,118 3,190 
			 Unknown 1 2 
		
	
	
		
			 Percentage of all IPPs with an Accredited Programme Completion 76.0% 78.1%

Prisoners: Indeterminate Sentences for Public Protection

Lord Ramsbotham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people serving indeterminate sentences for public protection, by sentence type, have had their sentence plan reviewed following the issue of Prison Service Instruction Number 114/2012.

Lord Popat: No information is collected on the number of sentence plans involving offenders serving an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) which have been reviewed following publication of Prison Service Instruction 41 of 2012: Sentence Planning. This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost as individual prisons would need to be contacted and the sentence plan for each of the 5,620 IPP prisoners in custody (as of 30 June 2013) checked.

Prisoners: Meals

Baroness Linklater of Butterstone: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) young offenders, and (2) adult prisoners, have to eat their meals in their cells; and how many prisons currently have facilities to enable prisoners to dine out of their cell.
	 Question number missing in Hansard, possibly truncated question.

Lord Popat: There are no centrally prescribed guidelines on where prisoners should he served their meal; security considerations, physical layout, regime and staffing resources dictate where a meal is served. This information varies considerably both within individual prisons and across the estate as a whole and would require enquiries to be made with every prison in England and Wales, incurring disproportionate cost in the process.

Prisoners: Suicide

Lord Trefgarne: To ask Her Majesty’s Government , further to the answer by Lord McNally on 29 July, what were the ages of the six children who committed suicide in prison in 2011–12; and what is the minimum age at which children can be held in prison.

Lord Popat: Every death in prison is a tragedy and affects families, staff and other prisoners deeply. We are committed to learning from such events to reduce the number of self inflicted deaths in prison custody.
	In 2011-2012 there were three apparently self-inflicted deaths by young people in custody. Two were 17 years old and one 15 years old.
	Young people cannot be sentenced or remanded to a prison. Courts are able to pass a custodial sentence on any young person aged 12 or over, which will be served either in a Young Offender Institution, Secure Training Centre or Secure Children's Home. The Youth Justice Board has statutory responsibility for placing young people in custody and will make a placement decision on the basis of evidence received from Court, the local Youth Offending Team and other sources. Each case is considered on its individual merits.

Royal Navy: Ships

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what ships have been ordered by the Royal Navy since July 2010.

Lord Astor of Hever: Three River Class Offshore Patrol Vessels have been purchased by the Royal Navy since July 2010. In addition, HMS Protector, the Royal Navy's Ice Patrol Ship, has been leased since 2011. The Ministry of Defence has also ordered four Maritime Afloat Reach and Sustainability Tankers, which will enter service with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, and six Island Class Patrol Boats, for service with the Royal Marines and the MoD Police.
	In addition, the defence equipment plan published earlier this year includes for the Royal Navy: six Type 45 Destroyers, of which five are already in-service; two Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers, which are currently under construction; and the design and development of the new Type 26 Global Combat Ships.
	I have interpreted ships to refer to the surface fleet, so my answer therefore does not include our submarine fleet.

Schools: Academies

Lord Grocott: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of academies are now deemed by Ofsted to be performing worse than before they were converted to that status.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of academies are now showing a higher Ofsted grading than before they were converted to that status.

Lord Nash: There are now 3,086 open academies, the vast majority of which have opened since September 2010.
	The figures below set out the proportion of mainstream academies opened since September 2010 which have improved or fallen by one or more Ofsted categories in comparison to the last inspection outcome as the predecessor school. It should be noted that changes to
	school inspection in 2012 have resulted in a tougher framework with higher expectations of schools, particularly with regard to the quality of teaching and its impact on pupils’ learning.
	43 per cent of academies inspected by Ofsted have been rated in a higher category than their predecessor school. This figure excludes schools previously rated ‘Outstanding’ that could not improve their rating any further.
	24 per cent of academies inspected by Ofsted have been rated in a lower category than their predecessor school. This figure excludes schools previously rated ‘Inadequate’ that could not receive a lower Ofsted rating.

Schools: Free Meals

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many children with parents in receipt of support under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 are entitled to free school meals; and whether they will extend the entitlement among that group.

Lord Nash: The children of asylum seekers are entitled to free school meals only if their parent is in receipt of support under Part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. The people entitled to support under section 4 include those who have applied for asylum and have had their application rejected. The children of such persons are not entitled to free school meals. The government has no plans to extend free school meal entitlement to the children of those in receipt of support under section 4.

Smoking

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what has been the percentage decline in cigarette sales since the introduction of the workplace smoking ban in 2007; whether there has been a proportionate change in smoking loose tobacco as opposed to pre-rolled cigarettes; and whether they have noted any improvements to health and mortality.

Earl Howe: The Government does not hold tobacco sales data. Office of National Statistics data on quantities of cigarettes, cigars, hand-rolling tobacco and other types of tobacco such as pipe and chewing tobacco released for consumption can be found at:
	www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/Tax%20and%20Duty%20Bulletins/Tobacco0113.xls#'6’!A1
	Information on the type of cigarette smoked by adults, by gender and socio-economic classification in 2010 is available in Table 2.5 of the Statistics on Smoking - England, 2012. A copy has been placed in
	the Library. Information on the type of cigarette smoked by adults, by gender and socio-economic classification in 2006 is available in Table 2.5 of the
	Statistics on Smoking, England, 2008
	. A copy has already been placed in the Library.
	An evidence review of the impact of the smoke-free legislation in England undertaken by the University of Bath was published alongside the Tobacco Control Plan for England in 2011.
	Latest data on National Health Service hospital admissions due to smoking-related illnesses is available in Table 4.4 of the Statistics on Smoking - England, 2012. Equivalent information on admissions for 2006-07 is available in Table 5.2 of the Statistics on Smoking, England, 2008.
	Latest data on the estimated number of deaths that can be attributed to smoking is available in Table 4.6 of the Statistics on Smoking - England, 2012. Equivalent information on deaths for 2007 is available in Table 5.4 of the Statistics on Smoking, England, 2008.

Television Licence Fee: Court Proceedings

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people in 2012 were summoned to appear at magistrates' courts in England for failure to pay a television licence fee; how many were proceeded against at such courts; how many were found guilty of fee evasion; what percentage of magistrates' work is related to dealing with such crimes; what is the estimated annual cost of this court operation; and what proportion of those charged with licence fee evasion were women.

Lord McNally: The number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts of installing or using a television receiver without the appropriate licence, in England, in 2012, can be viewed in the table, which also provides the proportion of which are female.
	The Ministry of Justice does not collect data on the cost of proceedings for specific offences in magistrates' courts and therefore is not able to estimate the cost of proceedings for failure to pay a television licence fee in 2012 with sufficient reliability within the time and cost available.
	
		
			 Persons proceeded against magistrates' courts and found guilty at all courts of installing or using a television receiver without the appropriate licence (1), England, 2012 (2)(3) 
			 2012 
			 Proceeded against 181880 
			 of which  
			 male 59841 
			 female 121602 
			 not stated 437 
			 Proportion female 67% 
			 Found guilty 155135 
			 of which  
		
	
	
		
			 male 49477 
			 female 105347 
			 not stated 311 
			 Proportion female 68% 
		
	
	(1) An offence under S363 of the Communications Act 2003
	(2) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe
	(3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used
	Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice Ref. PQ HL 1726

Turkey

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Warsi on 19 June (WA 59), whether they will now give their assessment of the number of journalists currently imprisoned in Turkey; and if not, why not.

Baroness Warsi: We do not have any reliable information on the precise number of journalists imprisoned in Turkey. Estimates of the actual numbers involved vary widely. The Turkish authorities are aware of our concerns, and we and our EU partners continue to raise freedom of expression and other fundamental freedoms as part of our wider dialogue with the Turkish government.

Turkey

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Warsi on 19 June (WA 58), what is their assessment of the effectiveness since October 2012 of the joint United Kingdom-Turkey training package aimed at training Turkish lawyers in fundamental rights.

Baroness Warsi: The Turkish Europe Ministry working with the Ministry of Justice has delivered six training sessions to improve awareness about the justice and fundamental rights chapter of the EU acquis. 431 Turkish lawyers have been trained. The project includes a study visit to the UK and a closing conference to take place in the autumn. We will be evaluating the impact of the project once it closes later this year.

Turkey

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Warsi on 19 June (WA 58-9), when the next senior ministerial visit to Turkey will take place, and whether they will raise the issue of fundamental human rights with the government of Turkey during that visit.

Baroness Warsi: It is long-standing policy not to confirm Ministerial travel plans in advance. However, human rights will continue to be an element of the Government's discussions with the Turkish leadership. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) and the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Aylesbury (Mr Lidington) last spoke to their counterparts in Turkey about the recent protests in June. We, and our EU partners, will continue to raise human rights issues as part of our broader dialogue with Turkey and have made clear the importance we attach to their compliance with their commitments under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Visas

The Earl of Clancarty: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many applicants to the Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) visa route for each of the four designated competent bodies have been (1) assessed, and (2) endorsed, in each year from the inception of the scheme to the present.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Since the inception of the Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) visa route, to date the four designated competent bodies have received the following number of applications:
	
		
			 August 2011 to April 2012 
			 Designated Bodies Assessed Endorsed 
			 The Arts Council 38 12 
			 The Royal Society 19 8 
			 British Academy 13 5 
			 The Royal Academy of Engineering 19 0 
			 Total for period 89 25 
		
	
	
		
			 April 2012 to March 2013   
			 Designated Bodies Assessed Endorsed 
			 The Arts Council 32 18 
			 The Royal Society 25 17 
			 British Academy 16 15 
			 The Royal Academy of Engineering 17 8 
			 Total for period 90 58 
		
	
	
		
			 April 2013 – to date   
			 Designated Bodies Assessed Endorsed 
			 The Arts Council 4 3 
			 The Royal Society 5 3 
			 British Academy 9 9 
			 The Royal Academy of Engineering 3 2 
			 Total for period 21 17

War Memorials

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which department is responsible for the Royal Naval Division memorial on Horse Guards Parade; and when water will be reconnected to the memorial.

Lord Astor of Hever: The Royal Navy Division Memorial Charity owns the memorial on Horse Guards Parade. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is responsible for the water supply, which is connected and functioning as designed.

Zimbabwe

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of preparations for presidential elections in Zimbabwe.

Lord Popat: Zimbabwe's elections took place on 31 July. While the Government are pleased the election day itself passed off peacefully, we have serious concerns over the conduct of the election. As the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) has noted in his Statement on 3 August, we are gravely concerned by significant irregularities outlined by African Union and Southern African Development Community observation missions, and those of the domestic observer groups, in their initial statements. These irregularities call into question the credibility of the election. It is vital that all allegations of electoral violations are investigated thoroughly. We will continue to monitor the situation in Zimbabwe and consider further reports from regional and local observer missions. In the mean time, the Government will continue to support the Zimbabwean people in their aspirations for a democratic, peaceful and prosperous future.

Armed Forces: Royal Air Force

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) men, and (2) women, in the Royal Air Force are of the RAF Regiment specialisation.

Lord Astor of Hever: The Royal Air Force Regiment is established for 354 Officers, up to and including Group Captain rank, and 2,206 Airmen, up to and including Warrant Officer rank. The RAF Regiment requires all personnel to be capable of dismounted close combat; hence—unlike all other RAF branches and trades—female personnel may not serve in the specialisation.

Banks: Iceland

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Deighton on 18 March (WA 96-7), what recent developments there have been in relation to HM Treasury’s claims for £2.413 billion in the administration of Icesave (Landsbanki hf), Heritable Bank plc and Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander Ltd; how much money has been repaid by the Icelandic Depositors and Investor Guarantee Fund; and whether they now expect to have to write off any of those banks’ debts.

Lord Deighton: Full details of HM Treasury’s claims in the administrations of Landsbanki hf, Heritable Bank plc and Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander Ltd and recoveries are set out in notes 15, 23.6 and 30 of the Treasury Annual Report and Accounts 2012/13, which were published on 16 July 2013. The report can be accessed via the Government's web pages1. A summary is given in the tables below.
	
		
			 Forecast recoveries 
			 Institution Total amount lent £m Current recovery % Forecast recovery (2012-13) % 
			 Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander (KSF) 494 77 85 
			 Heritable 92 78 88 
			 Icesave 3,073 49 100 
		
	
	
		
			 Recoveries from administrators 
			 Institution Dividends received as at 31 March 2013 £000 
			 Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander (KSF) 2,358,705 
			 Heritable Bank plc 431,499 
			 Icesave 2,233,429 
		
	
	In addition, the management commentary in chapter 4 of the Annual Report provides the following information on developments in relation to HM Treasury’s claims in the administration of Icesave:
	“In relation to the failed Icelandic bank Landsbanki (Icesave), HM Treasury also intervened to ensure that depositors were compensated for the share of their deposits which should have been guaranteed by the Icelandic Depositors and Investors Guarantee Fund (DIGF). 
	In a judgment announced on 28 January 2013, the EFTA Court found that Iceland was not obliged to ensure payment of compensation to depositors after the collapse of the Icesave in 2008. This means that HM Treasury can only make recoveries from the administration and not from the Icelandic government. Therefore the loan has been transferred from DIGF to statutory debt with effect from 28 January 2013. HM Treasury had assumed that interest would not be chargeable on this loan and it continues to be treated as an interest free loan with full capital recovery”.
	1
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/ attachment_data/file/212752/hmtreasury_annual report_and_accounts_201213.pdf

Broadcasting: Digital Terrestrial Television

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the value of digital terrestrial television to the United Kingdom economy.

Baroness Stowell of Beeston: A report by Analysis Mason for DCMS and BIS and published in November 2012 considered the economic impact of spectrum to the UK economy. The report provided estimates of the economic value of digital terrestrial services using frequencies in the UHF spectrum band. The report is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/impact-of-radio-spectrum-on-the-uk-economy-and-factors-influencing-future-spectrum-demand.

Broadcasting: Public Service Terrestrial Broadcasting

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have for the future of free at the point of use public service terrestrial broadcasting.

Baroness Stowell of Beeston: The Government’s plans for the future of free-at-the-point-of-use public service terrestrial broadcasting are set out in the recently published paper, Connectivity, Content and Consumers: Britain’s digital platform for growth (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/connectivity-content-and-consumers-britains-digital-platform-for-growth). We are particularly concerned to ensure that the free-to-view public service channels and content that the public value remain easily accessible and discoverable and that public service broadcasters are able to maximise their investment in high-quality UK-originated content. The Government plan to launch a consultation on the discoverability and accessibility of PSB content in the autumn, before bringing forward new legislative proposals as appropriate.

Burma

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have held with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture regarding the treatment of Muslim prisoners in Buttidaung prison in northern Rakhine State, Burma.

Baroness Warsi: The Government has not held recent discussions with the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture in relation to Burma. However, we engage regularly with UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana. During the March 2013 session at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, there was discussion of Mr Quintana's report, which highlighted the practice of torture in places of detention in Burma, and set out allegations that Muslim prisoners in Buthitaung prison in Rakhine State had been tortured and beaten to death. British Embassy officials have made several visits to northern Rakhine State over recent months, and have received similar reports of torture in Buthitaung jail.
	The Minister of State for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for Rutland and Melton (Mr Duncan), visited Burma and Rakhine State in June 2013, and raised our concerns about the treatment of prisoners in Buthitaung jail with the Minister for Border Affairs. Separately, our Ambassador has also discussed the position of Rohingya prisoners in Buthitaung jail with the Burmese Minister for Border Affairs.
	During the visit of President Thein Sein to London from 14-16 July, the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), raised a range of human rights and ethnic issues. The Foreign Secretary urged the President to sign the Convention against Torture. The UK has lobbied consistently on this and we will continue to press the Burmese government to sign the Convention and its Optional Protocol.

Burma

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what guarantees they have received that funding for repayment of debts by the Government of Burma and written off by Her Majesty’s Government will not be redeployed for investment in the Burmese armed forces.

Lord Deighton: The Paris Club reached an international agreement to clear Burma’s arrears to Paris Club creditors, including the UK, on 25 January. As part of this agreement, cancellation of arrears due to the UK is subject to Burma’s satisfactory performance under an IMF Staff Monitored Program. No additional funds have been created which could be diverted towards military spending.

Burma

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will include Burma in the Foreign Secretary’s Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative.

Baroness Warsi: The Government regularly lobbies the Burmese Government on the rights of women, particularly on preventing sexual violence against women in conflict areas. During his recent visit to the UK, the Burmese President, Thein Sein, welcomed the Foreign Secretary, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague)'s initiative on preventing sexual violence in conflict. As part of this initiative, our Embassy in Rangoon is working closely with the UN and other partners to identify options for increasing UK engagement in this area and on integrating protection and prevention against sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict environments into our existing work in Burma.
	Through international non-governmental organisations, the UK already gives support to legal assistance centres in Burmese refugee camps in Thailand and to trauma care in camps in Kachin State, both of which deal with rape cases.

Burma

Baroness Goudie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Burma regarding the reform of rape laws in Burma.

Baroness Warsi: While no specific representations have been made to the Burmese government on the reform of rape laws in Burma, the British Government regularly lobbies the Burmese government on the rights of women, particularly on preventing sexual violence against women in conflict areas.
	Our Embassy in Rangoon funds local non-governmental partners which provide technical support to the Burmese Ministry of Social Welfare to help the Burmese government fulfil its obligations under the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, to which Burma is a signatory.

Burma

Baroness Goudie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have held discussions with any other government regarding a review as to whether Burma is upholding its obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Baroness Warsi: While the British Government has not held discussions with other Governments regarding a review as to whether Burma is upholding its obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, we do hold regular discussions in the UN and EU on Burma’s human rights record.
	During President Theirs Sein recent visit to London on 14-16 July, the President met with the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks)
	(Mr Hague), who underlined the importance of international initiatives on human rights and Burma’s participation in relevant UN treaties was discussed.

Burma

Baroness Goudie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many representations they made in the past year with respect to rape and sexual violence in Burma during United Nations Security Council discussions on resolutions 1325 and 1820.

Baroness Warsi: We regularly raise issues surrounding rape and sexual violence in Burma with international partners in UN Security Council discussions. The most recent discussion on Burma was the UN Security Council ‘Friends of Myanmar’ meeting on 10 July, which was addressed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and Vijay Nambiar, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Burma.
	More broadly, we regularly lobby the Burmese government on the rights of women and children, particularly on preventing sexual violence against women and children in conflict areas. We are working with our partners in the UN Security Council working group on Children and Armed Conflict on a Burma country specific resolution, where we are pushing for language that calls for strong action against the perpetrators of sexual violence against children by the Burmese government.

Central African Republic

Baroness Berridge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of the Central African Republic regarding the abduction of Monsignor Francis Saint Clair Siki, the rector of Bangui’s Immaculate Conception cathedral.

Baroness Warsi: We were not previously aware of this case. We are grateful to the noble Baroness for bringing it to our attention, and are seeking more information.

Creative Industries

Lord Wills: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the impact of current immigration policies on United Kingdom creative industries.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the contribution of immigrants to United Kingdom creative industries.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the impact of current immigration policies on the United Kingdom film and television industries.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the contribution of immigrants to the United Kingdom film and television industries.

Baroness Stowell of Beeston: The Government believe that the creative industries are well catered for by the immigration system. We continue to welcome the brightest and best migrants to the UK who will boost our economy and enrich our cultural life.
	No formal review of the impact has been conducted by the Government or the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC). However, at the request of the Government the MAC was commissioned to look at several specific aspects of the immigration policy. It concluded that creative occupations should continue to be considered under Tier 2 and that they should continue to be exempted from the minimum skills requirement (currently set at NQF 6, graduate level). The Government have accepted this recommendation.
	Results of this review were published in February this year and can be found at:
	http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/workingwithus/mac/34mac-sixth-review/

Economy

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they will take in the light of the findings of the Which? Quarterly Consumer Report July 2013 on consumers’ responses to the cost of living, and the price of energy, fuel and food.

Lord Deighton: Budget 2013 announced measures to support households. The 1.89 pence per litre fuel duty increase that was planned for 1 September 2013 has been cancelled. The personal allowance was increased to £9,440 in April 2013, and will rise to £10,000 in April 2014, to support hard-working individuals. This is the largest cash increase ever. The Government is also helping to freeze council tax in every year of this Parliament, and has announced a two-year reduction in the rail fare cap.

Egypt

Baroness Uddin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the impact of the most recent killings of protestors in Egypt on stability in the region.

Baroness Warsi: On Saturday 27 July the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks)
	(Mr Hague) issued a statement condemning the use of force against protestors in Egypt and called on all sides to reduce tension. We have continued to call on both sides to refrain from violence. We attach great importance to democratic transition in Egypt, which matters significantly for the regions long term stability.

Egypt

Baroness Uddin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions, if any, they have had with the government of the United States on the removal from office of President Morsi in Egypt.

Baroness Warsi: We have had a number of discussions with key partners, including the US, at official and Ministerial level following the events in Egypt on 3 July. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) speaks to Secretary of State Kerry regularly on a wide range of issues, including Egypt. UK and US officials have regular and broad-ranging discussions on Egypt, as part of our wider foreign policy dialogue. We continue to work together with Egyptian interlocutors and our key partners, including the EU and the US government to support the swift return of a democratically elected civilian government.

Government Departments: Union Flag

Lord Kilclooney: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which are the designated days for government buildings to fly the Union flag in (1) Wales, (2) England, (3) Scotland, and (4) Northern Ireland.

Baroness Stowell of Beeston: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is responsible for informing all UK government departments of the designated days for the flying of the Union Flag. Devolved Administrations are responsible for issuing instructions for the flying of the Union Flag on buildings in their estate and others as necessary.
	The designated days for the flying of the Union Flag are:
	
		
			 9 January Birthday of the Duchess of Cambridge 
			 20 January Birthday of the Countess of Wessex 
			 6 February Her Majesty’s Accession 
			 19 February Birthday of the Duke of York 
			 1 March St David’s Day (in Wales only, see note 1) 
			 10 March Birthday of the Earl of Wessex 
			 11 March Commonwealth Day (second Monday in March) 
			 17 March St. Patrick’s Day (in Northern Ireland only, see note 5) 
			 21 April Birthday of Her Majesty the Queen 
			 23 April St George’s Day (in England only, see note 1) 
			 9 May Europe Day (see note 4) 
			 2 June Coronation Day 
			 10 June Birthday of the Duke of Edinburgh 
		
	
	
		
			 15 June Official celebration of Her Majesty’s birthday 
			 21 June Birthday of the Duke of Cambridge 
			 17 July Birthday of the Duchess of Cornwall 
			 15 August Birthday of the Princess Royal 
			 10 November Remembrance Day (second Sunday in November, see note 2) 
			 14 November Birthday of the Prince of Wales 
			 20 November Her Majesty’s Wedding Day 
			 30 November St Andrew’s Day (in Scotland only, see note 1) 
			 Also The day of the opening of a Session of the Houses of Parliament by Her Majesty (see note 3) 
			  The day of the prorogation of a Session of the Houses of Parliament by Her Majesty (see note 3) 
		
	
	1. Where a building has two or more flag poles the appropriate national flag may be flown in addition to the Union Flag but not in a superior position. UK government buildings within the wider Whitehall area may fly the national flags alongside the Union Flag on their appropriate saint days.
	2. Flags should be flown at full mast all day.
	3. Flags should be flown on this day even if Her Majesty does not perform the ceremony in person. Flags should only be flown in the Greater London area.
	4. Where the European flag is flown on this day, the Union Flag should fly alongside the European flag and, on UK government buildings that only have one flag pole, the Union Flag should take precedence.
	5. The Union Flag only should be flown.

Health: Private Hospitals

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the total amount of tax relief provided to private hospitals with charitable status in the financial years 2011-12, and 2012-13.

Lord Deighton: HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) does not at present separately identify the amount of tax relief given to charities by reference to the types of organisations that are given the reliefs.
	HMRC publishes national statistics on the reliefs for which it is possible to produce an estimate of the total cost, in Table 10.2 of the charity tax statistics on its website.1
	1
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/charity/table10-2.pdf

Homelessness: Rough Sleepers

Lord Christopher: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the total number of rough sleepers in the United Kingdom and where they are most greatly concentrated; and how the total number breaks down into (1) those who suffer alcoholism or drug addiction, (2) those who are recidivist discharged offenders, and (3) others.

Baroness Hanham: The Government published rough sleeping statistics for England in February 2013. These are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rough-sleeping-in-england-autumn-2012. Figures for the rest of the United Kingdom are a matter for each devolved administration, although web-links to relevant information for Scotland and Wales are given on page 9 of the statistical release available at the web-link above.
	Comprehensive data on rough sleepers, including support needs, is held under the Greater London Authority’s CHAIN (Combined Homeless and Information Network which covers London and contains detailed information on London's rough sleepers over the year) system. It shows that, in 2012/13 48% of people seen rough sleeping in London had an alcohol support need, 28% had a drug support need and 32% had experience of prison (Street to Home - CHAIN annual report 2012/13).
	We are investing £470 million over four years (2011/12- 2014/15) to help prevent and tackle homelessness, rough sleeping and repossessions. This includes £34 million to the Greater London Authority to tackle rough sleeping across the capital.
	In London No Second Night Out is making a big difference and all local authorities in England have committed to adopt the No Second Night Out approach by the end of 2013. The CHAIN annual data for 2012/13 shows that No Second Night Out helped ensure that three quarters (75%) of new rough sleepers do not spend a second night on London’s streets.

Immigration

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many immigrants were recorded as arriving in the United Kingdom in 2012; how many foreign nationals registered for national insurance numbers in 2012; and of those, in both instances, how many were Romanians.

Baroness Stowell of Beeston: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, Director General for Office for National Statistics, to Lord Laird, dated August 2013.
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question, To ask Her Majesty’s Government, how many immigrants were recorded as arriving in the United Kingdom in 2012; how many foreign nationals registered for national insurance numbers in 2012; and of those, in both instances, how many were Romanians.
	The Office for National Statistics produces estimates of long-term international migration, primarily based on the International Passenger Survey (IPS).
	The latest available figures, based on the IPS, are for the period January 2011 to December 2011. The estimate of the number of immigrants arriving in the UK was 531,000, with a confidence interval of +/- 28,000. The estimate of the number of Romanian citizens arriving in the UK in this period was 8,000 with a confidence interval of +/- 3,000.
	Immigration figures for 2012 will be available on 28th November 2013.
	The information requested for the number of foreign nationals registered for national insurance numbers is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-insurance-number-allocations-to-adult-overseas-nationals-entering-the-uk
	I understand that the support staff in the House of Lords library are able to assist in extracting the information he requested.

Internet: Broadband

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their forecast of the date by which high speed broadband will be available in the Somerset towns of Bruton, Castle Cary and Wincanton.

Baroness Stowell of Beeston: I can confirm that the towns of Bruton, Castle Cary and Wincanton are within the area covered by the Connecting Devon and Somerset project. However, it is not possible to provide a date by which these areas will have better broadband services available before the detailed surveys, which are currently taking place, have been completed.

Overseas Aid

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the Office of the Children's Commissioner’s report Child Rights Impact Assessment of Budget Decisions: including the 2013 Budget, and the cumulative impact of tax-benefit reforms and reductions in spending on public services 2010–15.

Lord Deighton: It is important to consider the impact of all of this Government’s measures on households with children, and not just tax and welfare policy. The distributional analysis published in the “Impact on households” annexe at Spending Round 2013 remains the most robust and comprehensive assessment of the cumulative impact of tax, welfare and public spending measures on households.
	The analysis shows that the top 20 per cent of households continue to make the greatest net contribution towards reducing the deficit (both in cash terms and as a percentage of income), and on average the bottom 20 per cent of households receive over five times as much support from public spending as they contribute in tax.

Press Regulation

Lord Prescott: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 25 July (WA 235), whether they will now arrange for the list of members to be published in the Official Report; and if not, why not.

Baroness Stowell of Beeston: Details of Committee membership have been published on the Privy Council website:
	http://privycouncil.independent.gov.uk/royal-charters/petitions-for-royal-charters/

Schools: iPads and Tablets

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of schools they expect will require children to bring an iPad or other tablet device to school in the new school year; and what support they will provide to low income families in such cases.

Lord Nash: The Government leaves it to schools to make decisions about tablet devices including how they are funded and purchased. We do not monitor this centrally nor prescribe how this happens.
	Departmental guidance makes clear to schools that we do not expect children to be treated any differently or excluded from any activity if a parent cannot make, or refuses to make, a contribution towards the cost of that activity or related equipment. Our experience is that schools are keen not to disadvantage pupils from low income families where they choose to introduce tablet devices. Information is freely available to schools to help them with this, for example from the e-Learning Foundation charity.
	The Government provides additional funding to schools specifically to boost the attainment of disadvantaged pupils in the form of the Pupil Premium. The Premium rose from £623 per pupil in 2012-13 to £900 per pupil in 2013-14 and will rise again in 2014- 15 and be worth £2.5 billion in total. We do not prescribe the uses that the Pupil Premium is put to: schools are best placed to understand the needs of their pupils and decide on the most appropriate additional support for their disadvantaged pupils.

Asylum Seekers

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government , further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 10 July (WA 44-5), what evidence they have, and from which sources, that allowing asylum seekers to
	apply for jobs which do not appear on the shortage occupation list would act as a pull factor for economic migrants.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Government’s primary objective is to protect the UK’s resident labour market by avoiding circumvention of strict controls on the terms of access to work applied to all migrants from outside the EU. The publications Skilled, Shortage, Sensible (February 2013) and Analysis of the Impacts of Migration (January 2013) by the Migration Advisory Committee assess what labour market access it is sensible for non-EU migrants to have; and the displacement effect of migration on the resident labour market.

Asylum Seekers

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government , further to the answer by Earl Attlee on 20 May (HL Deb, col 625), how they define those not in need of protection claiming asylum for economic reasons.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: All asylum applications made in the UK, including those which may be motivated wholly or in part by economic factors, will be considered in accordance with our international obligations. If the individual is found to be in need of protection as a refugee the distinction is irrelevant, but it is vital to the integrity of the asylum process that asylum is not perceived as a way of by-passing the regulation of the employment of overseas nationals in the UK.

Electoral Registration

Lord Tyler: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, following recent pilots, they have any plans to allow higher-tier local authorities to share data with lower-tier authorities for the purposes of electoral registration.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The recent research on data matching to identify missing electors included an exploration of the process implications of removing the legal barrier that prevents lower tier councils in two-tier areas from accessing data held by the upper-tier. The Cabinet Office evaluation of the pilots established that the lower tier councils found data matching with datasets from their upper tier a useful exercise.
	The Government is currently considering whether to allow upper and lower tier local authorities to share data for electoral registration purposes, so giving Electoral Registration Officers in those areas access to the kinds of data already available to their counterparts in unitary authorities.

Higher Education: Overseas Students

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Confirmations of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) were assigned and issued by (1) universities, and (2) other educational institutions, for non-European Union students to enable their entry to the United Kingdom since February 2010; and how many students were reported as not fulfilling their study and other obligations by those two types of institutions for each year since 2010.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: We do not publish details of the number of Confirmations of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) assigned by sponsors; we only publish details of CAS used in support of an application for entry clearance.
	In each year since 2010, the number of CAS assigned by universities and by other educational institutions and then used to apply for a Tier 4 visa is:
	
		
			  Universities Other educational institutions 
			 2013 10,965 6,006 
			 2012 156,536 53,574 
			 2011 152,479 118,205 
			 2010 143,130 106,037 
		
	
	Figures for 2013 are from January to March only.
	The information is based on the latest published Home Office immigration statistics which are available from the Library of the House and on the Department's website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home- office/series/ immigration-statistics-quarterly-release
	Home Office do not hold Information relating to the number of students reported as not fulfilling their study and other obligations in the format required. This could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Homelessness: Rough Sleepers

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: to ask Her Majesty’s Government what provisions are in place to allow access to services to (1) adults and (2) children, who are stateless rough-sleepers.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support and financial assistance they are providing to non-governmental organisations in (1) Romania, and (2) the United Kingdom, to support reconnection programmes for migrants from Romania who may have fallen on hard times.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support they are providing to Romanian and Bulgarian authorities to prepare potential migrants from those countries for life in the United Kingdom.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to provide education, work qualifications, or financial planning assistance to migrants arriving in the United Kingdom from Romania and Bulgaria in 2014.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Government wants to ensure that those who come to the UK from the European Union or from further afield do so for the right reasons—to contribute to our country not because they are drawn by the attractiveness of our benefits system or the opportunity to use public services. As the Prime Minister announced in his immigration speech on 25 March we are taking action to strengthen controls on European Economic Area access to the benefits system, including strengthening the qualifying test and also providing that out of work European Economic Area migrants will only have a right to reside and an entitlement to claim certain benefits for period six months unless they can demonstrate that they are genuinely seeking employment and have a genuine chance of securing a job.
	We are also taking forward negotiations with European partners to explore the wider scope for protecting the benefits system from misuse, and will sharpen our approach to operating reciprocal cost recovery arrangements with other European Union member states where European Union visitors use the National Health Service.
	The Government is determined to tackle migrant rough-sleeping. Over half of London's rough sleepers are foreign nationals.
	The Government is working with local authorities and the third sector to deliver voluntary reconnection to the migrant’s home country. In some cases those who refuse to return home may be targeted for enforced return and be administratively removed.
	We believe that it is important that migrants who come to this country are able to support themselves so they do not become destitute. We are providing further funding of £50,000 to the Passage Day centre in London to extend it’s “Before You Go” campaign beyond Poland into Romania, Bulgaria and Lithuania. This voluntary sector led campaign highlights the problems faced by destitute economic migrants. The Passage will be working with non-government organisations and churches in home countries in the expanded European Union.
	We are investing £470 million over four years (2011/12-2014/15) to help prevent and tackle homelessness, rough sleeping and repossessions. This includes £34 million to the Greater London Authority to tackle rough sleeping across the capital. Those local authorities who face problems with rough sleeping by economic migrants may chose to fund reconnection services. The Greater London Authority funds such a service in London.
	Homeless migrants, who satisfy residency rules and are in receipt of qualifying benefits, may be entitled to attend courses in English and English for Speakers of Other Languages.
	There are a range of services across the country to help rough sleepers, including the No Second Night Out initiative and reconnection services. Children sleeping rough are the responsibility of social services.

Immigration

The Earl of Clancarty: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) applications, (2) successful entries, and (3) refusals, there have been for the permitted paid engagement scheme administered by the UK Border Agency since its introduction; and how many persons in each category have been professional artists and entertainers.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The visitor route for permitted paid engagements (PPE) was introduced on 6 April 2012. From 6 April 2012 to 31 March 2013 a total of 383 visit visa applications have been made under the scheme. As of 31 March 2013, 305 applications resulted in visas being issued, while 66 were refused. A further 12 cases were undecided at the time.
	We are unable to advise how many non-visa nationals entered the United Kingdom using this route. Nor can we advise how many successful visa applicants subsequently entered the United Kingdom, or how many of the applicants were professional artists and entertainers. To provide this data would require a disproportionately expensive manual case by case search to collate.
	(1) The figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols.
	(2) Data relates to main applicants only.
	(3) Data relates to PPE applications received, and decisions made on those applications, between 6 April 2012 and 31 March 2013.

Immigration

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government , further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 24 July (WA 208), whether arriving Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) workers and their dependants are counted within the net migration statistics; how many ICT workers and their dependants arrived in the United Kingdom in the last 12 months; what time limit is placed on their stay in the United Kingdom; and whether their time as an ICT worker counts towards the time required for eligibility to obtain indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The net migration statistics are compiled by the Office for National Statistics based largely on the International Passenger Survey (IPS) and are not based on the type of visa held (where applicable) by an individual. ONS use the UN recommended definition of a long-term international migrant. That is someone who changes his or her country of usual residence for a period of at least a year, so that the country of destination effectively becomes the country of usual residence. This is the definition used to calculate net migration, and is also used for the UK usually resident population estimate series. Further information about the ONS data is provided in “Long-term International Migration: frequently asked questions” at: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/method-quality/specific/population-and-migration/international-migration-methodology/long-term international- migration-frequently-asked-questions.pdf
	The latest available information for passenger arrivals for Intra-Company Transfer workers is given in the table below. The available information does not separately identify Intra-Company Transfer workers' dependants. Corresponding information for Q3 (July-September) 2012 and 04 (October-December) 2012 is planned to be published on 29 August 2013.
	
		
			 Skilled work (Tier 2) passenger arrivals (1)(2) 
			 Type of applicant Category 2011Q1 2011Q2 2011Q3 2011Q4 2012Q1 Number of journeys 2012 Q2 
			 Main Total 8,640 8,350 9,430 7,280 8,890 9,140 
			 Dependant Total 4,530 5,330 5,910 4,090 4,220 5,290 
			  of which 
			 Main Tier 2 - General 2,430 2,440 2,980 2,250 2,680 3,070 
			 Main Tier 2 - Intra Company Transfer 5,790 5,480 6,000 4,640 5,790 5,650 
			 Main Tier 2 - Minister of Religion 115 95 135 115 155 140 
			 Main Tier 2 - Sportsperson 305 340 320 270 270 280 
		
	
	Notes
	(1) Passengers given leave to enter the United Kingdom, excluding EEA and Swiss nationals
	(2) Data may not sum to totals due to rounding
	Source:
	Immigration Statistics January-March, table ad_02_q
	The latest Home Office immigration statistics on passenger arrivals are published in the release Immigration Statistics January-March, which is available from the library of the House and on the Department’s website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ immigration-statistics¬january-to-march-2013
	There are four sub-categories of Tier two (Intra Company Transfer): Long-term staff; Short-term staff; Graduate trainee, and Skills transfer. The time limits placed on these sub-categories vary.
	Currently, Tier 2 (Intra Company Transfer) long-term staff are given an initial grant of leave to cover the period of engagement plus one month or three years plus one month, whichever is the shorter. They may then apply for further leave to remain and may be given leave to cover the period of engagement plus one month, or two years plus one month, or the period required to take the applicant’s total stay in the UK to the maximum time allowed, whichever is the shorter. The maximum time allowed varies depending on their earnings. Those earning less than £152,100 are limited to a maximum stay in the UK of five years. Those earning £152,100 or more are limited to a maximum of nine years.
	Applicants in the short-term staff and graduate trainee sub-categories are given an initial grant of leave to cover the period of engagement plus one month or 12 months, whichever is the shorter. They may then apply for further leave to remain and may be given grants of leave to cover the period of engagement plus 14 days or the period required to take the applicant’s total stay in the UK to 12 months, whichever is shorter. 12 months is the maximum period of stay allowed in these subcategories.
	Applicants in the skills transfer sub-category are given an initial grant of leave to cover the period of engagement plus one month or six months, whichever is the shorter. They may then apply for further leave to remain and may be given grants of leave to cover the period of engagement plus 14 days or the period required to take the applicant’s total stay in the UK to six months, whichever is shorter. Six months is the maximum period of stay allowed in these subcategories.
	Dependants of Intra Company Transfer migrants are granted leave in line with the person whom they are the dependent of.
	Tier 2 (Intra Company Transfer) migrants who arrived in the UK having been granted Entry Clearance under the Immigration Rules from 6 April 2010 cannot apply for indefinite leave to remain under the Points-Based System.

Immigration

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: to ask Her Majesty’s Government how they define (1) economic migrant, (2) refugee, (3) asylum seeker, (4) failed asylum seeker, (5) illegal immigrant, and (6) detainee; and how they define would-be illegal immigrants, as used in the Home Office and Border Force press release on 26 July.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The information requested is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Economic migrant A migrant whose primary purpose for coming to the UK is work; or a migrant who is already in the UK for work. 
		
	
	
		
			 Refugee Defined by the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and 1967 Protocol (the “Refugee Convention”), as being a person who, owing to a well founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of their nationality. The individual is unable or, owing to such a fear, is unwilling to avail themselves of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of their former habitual residence, is unable, or owing to such fear is unwilling to return to it. Recognition of refugee status by the UK is a pre-requisite to the grant of asylum in the country. 
			 Asylum seeker Under the Immigration Rules (327), an asylum applicant is a person who either; (a) makes a request to be recognised as a refugee under the Geneva Convention on the basis that it would be contrary to the United Kingdom’s obligations under the Geneva Convention for him to be removed from or required to leave the United Kingdom, or (b) otherwise makes a request for international protection. 
			 Failed asylum seeker An individual whose application for asylum and other forms of protection has been refused and who has exhausted their appeal rights. 
			 Illegal immigrant An individual who has entered or remained in the UK unlawfully. 
			 Detainee An individual who is being detained under paragraph 16 of Schedule two to the Immigration Act 1971, including: whose nationality and/or leave status is still being determined; whose leave have been suspended and there is an outstanding question over whether or not their leave should be cancelled; and where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that removal directions will be given. 
			 Would-be illegal immigrants (from the web story) Individuals found hiding in lorries in Northern France who are attempting to gain entry to the UK clandestinely.

Immigration

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government , further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 25 July (WA 227), how they define “brightest and the best”.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Migration has enriched our culture and strengthened our economy, but unlimited migration places unacceptable pressure on public services. This is why the Government’s policies look to attract the “brightest and the best”, who are most likely to make a positive contribution to this country.
	We use the phrase “brightest and best” to describe a range of desirable migrants which the UK wishes to attract. These include genuine students, entrepreneurs, investors and skilled workers.

Immigration

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the accuracy of the Annual Population Survey compared to the International Passenger Survey in recording the number of immigrants entering the United Kingdom year on year.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, Director General for Office for National Statistics, to Lord Laird, dated August 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question, to ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the accuracy of the Annual Population Survey compared to the International Passenger Survey in recording the number of immigrants entering the United Kingdom year on year. [HL2116]
	ONS uses the International Passenger Survey (IPS) data to estimate Long-Term International Migration (LTIM), with adjustments made for asylum seekers, people whose intentions change with regards to their length of stay. and migration to and from Northern Ireland. LTIM estimates adhere to the UN definition of a long-term international migrant. which states that a long-term migrant is a person who changes his or her country of usual residence for a period of at least a year.
	ONS uses the Annual Population Survey (APS) data to estimate the number of people currently residing in the UK. It is a stock estimate of UK residents that includes both short- and long-term migrants, and does not differentiate between them. By contrast the IPS data separately identifies the net flows of long-term migrants.
	ONS have made an assessment of the different sources of data on international migration and published a report, available at the following link:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/migration1/population-by-country-of-birth-and-nationality/sources-of-international-migration-data/differences-between-sources-of-international-migration-data.pdf
	This research focused on the Labour Force Survey, Annual Population Survey. International Passenger Survey and Long Term International Migration, and highlighted that there were key definitional and coverage differences between the sources, which meant that data derived from these different sources are not directly comparable. ONS concluded that the IPS is currently the most appropriate source for the calculation of long-term international migration based on the UN definition of a long-term migrant.

Immigration

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government , further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 3 July (WA 191-2), what estimate they have made of the costs associated with quality-assuring data related to the number of non-European Economic Area immigrants sponsored by each tier two and tier five employer prior to possible publication; whether the figures are calculated annually within the Home Office; and what are the reasons why disclosure might be unsuitable.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Home Office is not able to provide an estimate of the overall monetary cost of quality assuring such data without first undertaking a large scale resource intensive data production and quality assurance exercise.
	The resource required to cross-reference, manually verify and quality assure data relating to each migrant employed by more than 26,000 registered sponsors, particularly where it has no plans to publish the data and where this information has not been requested, would be disproportionately costly. There are no statutory reasons why data cannot be published.

Immigration: Deportation

Lord Judd: to ask Her Majesty’s Government on how many occasions in 2012 they were prevented from deporting criminals who were not United Kingdom citizens following the completion of their sentences by rulings of the United Kingdom courts citing Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: In answering this question, we have taken “occasions … prevented from deporting” to mean the number of appeals allowed against deportation by foreign national offenders (FNOs) on the grounds of Article eight of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
	In 2012, a total of 299 FNOs had appeals allowed on Article eight Human Rights grounds (with or without other articles).
	1. All figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols.
	2. Data relates to appeals determined between 1 January and 31 December 2012, where FNOs appealed following completion of their sentence, and where the appeal was allowed on Article 8 grounds.
	3. Figures may include appeals originally lodged against deportation and asylum.

Immigration: Deportation

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: to ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to implement any of the recommendations of the National Independent Commission on Enforced
	Removal Additional Findings and Recommendations report, and specifically the proposals for (1) a multi-disciplinary panel for complex returns, (2) a more robust system for regular and appropriate licensing of contracted detainee custody officers and escort staff, (3) independent oversight of the enforced removal process, and (4) pain-free restraint techniques appropriate for use during enforced removals.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Home Office has an action plan in respect of the issues raised in the report.
	Home Office Immigration Enforcement has recently established the Complex and Scheduled Removals Team in order to consolidate the necessary skills to review complex cases and determine the most effective, humane and low risk method of return and will continue to engage with the Commission.
	The requirements stipulated by Home Office Immigration Enforcement for Detainee Custody Officers (DCOs) are higher than those of the Security Industry Authority for accreditation. There are therefore no plans to seek accreditation for DCOs from the Security Industry Authority.
	Independent oversight of complaints is provided by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman. Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons’ statutory remit covers detention facilities and escort arrangements. Independent Monitoring Boards have monitored charter flight removals as part of a pilot exercise.
	The Independent Advisory Panel on Non-Compliance Management (IAPNCM) has been established to provide support to the National Offender Management Service in the design of the new training package for use by Detainee Custody Officers who escort individuals being removed from the United Kingdom and to provide independent advice to Home Office Immigration Enforcement on the quality and safety of the new package, and in particular of the use of force techniques. The panel have not yet completed their work.

Immigration: Detention

Lord Ramsbotham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much has been paid to families in cases where courts have found that parents were unlawfully held in immigration detention and separated from their children.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The information required is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

National Readership Survey

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made as to National Readership Survey social grading of those who since 1997 have (1) entered
	the United Kingdom for permanent settlement, and (2) emigrated from the United Kingdom.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Home Office has made no assessment of those entering the UK for permanent settlement or those emigrating using the National Readership Survey classification of social grading.

Passports

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many forged United Kingdom passports have been found by United Kingdom authorities in each of the last five years.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Home Office does not hold data on the number of forged United Kingdom passports detected by United Kingdom authorities.

Philip Machemedze

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: To ask Her Majesty’s Government , further to the Written Answers by Lord Wallace of Tankerness on 21 June 2011 (WA 290), Lord Howell of Guildford on 22 June 2011 (WA 316), Baroness Browning on 14 July 2011 (WA 213-4), and Lord Henley on 19 March 2012 (WA 145), what is the residential status of Zimbabwean Central Intelligence Organisation operative Philip Machemedze, who has admitted kidnapping and torture, and is now resident in Wales.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: For reasons of confidentiality, the Home Office does not routinely comment on the residential status of individuals.

Planning

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what principles they apply to the provision of financial compensation to local communities and residents where there is large-scale local development that is controversial, over and above planning gain contributions in planning legislation and other statutory compensation procedures; whether such compensation is specific to the energy sector; and whether they leave decisions about such compensation for developers to determine.

Baroness Hanham: The National Planning Policy Framework sets out the Government’s planning policies for England, including when it would be appropriate for local planning authorities to consider whether otherwise unacceptable development could be made acceptable through the use of planning conditions or obligations. There are no general planning requirements on developers to provide compensation to local residents and planning obligations should only be sought where they are necessary to make the development acceptable in planning terms. The existing statutory compensation schemes in England are limited to compensating people for the depreciation in value of their land due to the adverse effect of the construction and use of “public works”. This is restricted to the effect of certain physical factors including noise, vibration and smell but not loss of a view. “Public works” are defined as “any highway, any aerodrome and any works on land provided or used in the exercise of statutory powers and which have statutory immunity from actions for nuisance”. Outside the planning system, a number of energy companies provide a variety of different amounts and types of community benefits on a voluntary basis.
	The Government has periodically on a case-by-case basis recognised the particular impacts on local communities that can arise from major infrastructure projects. For example, the Department for Energy and Climate Change recently announced that the scale and duration of the impact of new nuclear power stations on their localities is to be recognised by ensuring communities benefit from the role they play in national power generation. Last year, recognising the exceptional nature of the project, the Government confirmed that residents affected by the first phase of HS2 from London to the West Midlands will be offered a comprehensive package of compensation measures which go significantly beyond statutory requirements.

Political Parties and Elections Act 2009

Lord Tyler: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they plan to bring into force sections 10 and 11 of and Schedule 4 to the Political Parties and Elections Act 2009.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: There is a need for the Government to ensure that these provisions are workable in practice as well as consistent with the wider legislative framework. There is however already a robust legal framework in place to ensure that only individuals on the electoral register and organisations that carry on business in the UK can make donations to political organisations in the UK. These provisions provide an important safeguard.

Questions for Written Answer

Lord Judd: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they will answer Question for Written Answer HL518, tabled on 3 June.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave today. I apologise for the delay in providing a response.

Torture

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recommendations contained in the Freedom from Torture report The Poverty Barrier: The Right to Rehabilitation for Survivors of Torture in the UK, specifically for (1) HM Government as a whole, (2) the Home Office, (3) the Ministry of Justice, (4) the Legal Aid Agency and (5) the Department for Work and Pensions.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Government notes the recommendations in this report and in particular will take them into account when considering any future changes to asylum support arrangements, including the provisions for vulnerable groups such as torture survivors. The Government published the findings of its review of asylum support rates in a Written Ministerial Statement on 6 June 2013, Official Report, col. 119WS and has no immediate plans to review them again or to respond formally to this report.

Torture

Lord Avebury: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have (1) suspended their plans to introduce the United Nations Convention Against Torture definition of torture into Chapter 55 of the Enforcement Instructions and Guidance; (2) issued a notice to Home Office case workers and Immigration Removal Centre doctors that, until further notice, they must apply the definition of torture set out by Mr Justice Burnett in the case of EO for the purpose of Rule 35 policy; and (3) added to the January 2013 Asylum Instruction on Rule 35 a clarification that, until further notice, torture in the context of Rule 35 must be regarded as that defined by Mr Justice Burnett in the case of EO.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Following the judgment by Mr Justice Burnett in the case of EO, I can confirm that the Home Office has suspended plans to introduce the definition of torture set out in the United Nations Convention against Torture (UNCAT) into chapter 55 of the Enforcement Instructions and Guidance (EIG). Arrangements are also in hand to remove the UNCAT definition of torture from the January 2013 Asylum Instruction on Rule 35 processes and to issue notices to Home Office case workers and doctors working in Immigration Removal Centres informing them that, until further notice, they must apply the definition of torture set out by Mr Justice Burnett in the case of EO when either completing or considering Rule 35 reports.

Children and Families Bill

Baroness Hughes of Stretford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether an impact assessment was undertaken on the Children and Families Bill; and, if so, what were the conclusions of that assessment.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether a risk assessment was undertaken on the Children and Families Bill; and, if so, what were the conclusions of that assessment.

Lord Nash: The impact of the provisions in the Bill was fully considered during the development of the legislation and the Government continues to consider the impact that the reforms will have as implementation plans are developed. Risks are assessed and managed in relation to each individual part of the Bill, in the context of the wider reforms which the legislation supports.
	The Government’s conclusions about the financial impact of the Bill are summarised in paragraphs 648 – 651 of the Explanatory Notes. Impact assessments, and additional evidence of about the economic impact of the Bill provisions, have been made available to Parliament as follows.
	Full Impact Assessments for Parts 6-8 of the Bill were published on introduction and are available in the House Library and online at the following links:
	Shared parental leave (Parts 6 & 7):
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/110692/13-651-modern-workplaces-shared-parental-leave-and-pay-impact-assessment2.pdf
	Flexible working (Part 8):
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/modern-workplaces-consultation-government-response-on-flexible-working-impact-assessment.
	For Parts 1 to 5 of the Bill, for which the Government’s Regulatory Powers Committee did not require full Impact Assessments on Introduction, the Government has published evidence packs explaining the impact of these parts of the Bill on the public sector and in respect of equalities and children’s rights considerations. These assessments are available in the House Library, and online at the following links:
	Adoption (Part 1):
	http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/a/adoption%20-%20evidence%20of%20impact.pdf
	Family Justice (Part 2):
	http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/f/family%20justice%20-%20evidence%20of%20impact1.pdf
	Special Educational Needs (Part 3):
	http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/s/sen%20evidence%20pack.pdf
	Childcare (Part 4):
	http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/c/childcare%20-%20evidence%20of%20impact.pdf
	Office of the Children’s Commissioner (Part 5):
	http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/o/office%20of%20the%20childrens%20commissioner%20-% 20evidence%20of%20impact.pdf

Children: Looked-after Children

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations the Department for Education has received from (1) organisations representing children in care, (2) the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, and (3) private sector contractors, regarding the removal of the requirement for separate Ofsted inspection of social work functions for looked after children.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations the Department for Education has received from (1) organisations representing children in care, (2) the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, and (3) private sector contractors, regarding the delegation of social work functions for looked after children to external providers.

Lord Nash: The Department for Education consulted on both these proposals in January and February 2012. Responses were received, from among others, a number of individual providers in the private and voluntary sectors, their representative bodies, several local authorities and the Children’s Society. The Association of Directors of Children’s Services did not respond to the consultation. A full list of respondents and analysis of their submissions has been publishedi.
	No further representations have been received apart from a letter from Devon County Council expressing support.
	i https://www.education.gov.uk/consultations/index.cfm?action=conResults&consultationId=1869&external=no&menu=3

Social Work Practice Pilot

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the 15 local authorities which have participated in the social work practice pilot programme since 2008 operated as an employee-owned partnership.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government which of the 15 local authorities that have participated in the social work practice pilot programme enabled by part 1 of the Children and Young People Act 2008 are still operating a social work practice.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, for each of the 15 local authorities which have participated in the social work practice pilot programme since
	2008, (1) what was the start and end date of their participation in the pilots; (2) what was the duration of the contract with the social work practice as part of the pilot; (3) how many children and young people were under the responsibility of each social work practice during the pilot as a proportion of all the authority’s looked after children; (4) how many qualified social workers the social work practice employed during the pilot; and (5) how many non-social-work-qualified staff were employed by the social work practice during the pilot, and what were their roles.

Lord Nash: The Social Work Practices pilot ran from 2008 to 2012. With the end of the pilot, the Department for Education no longer directly monitors arrangements in the participating local authorities. We believe, however, that six local authorities retain some or all of the elements tested under piloting arrangements: Barnet, Blackburn with Darwen, Bristol, Kent, Norfolk and Staffordshire.
	The start and end date of each pilot is contained in the table below. The table also contains indicative figures for the number of children each pilot intended to include within scope of the social work practice. Numbers will, of course, have changed over the course of the pilot period. Data is not available for the number of social workers included in each pilot.
	
		
			 Local authority Participation/funding period Number of relevant children in Practice* Total number of relevant children in local authority 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 2008-09 to 2011-12 100-200 315 
			 Hillingdon 2008-09 to 2011-12 80-100 475 
			 Kent 2008-09 to 2011-12 600 approx 600 approx 
			 Liverpool 2008-09 to 2011-12 110 889 
			 Staffordshire 2008-09 to 2011-12 160-180 672 
			 Bristol 2010-11 to 2011-12 160 650 
			 North Tyneside 2010-11 to 2011-12 400 440 
			 Peterborough 2011-12 196 306 
			 Barnet 2011-12 70-80 306 
			 Norfolk 2011-12 not stated 962 
			 Redbridge 2011-12 135 135 
			 Richmond Upon Thames 2011-12 220 220 
			 Sunderland 2011-12 300 600 
			 Wakefield 2011-12 15-20 200 
			 Shropshire 2011-12 (NB. No funding) not stated 218 
		
	
	* Social Work Practices worked with children in care, care leavers or both. The figures provided in these columns detail the relevant groups or combination of groups depending on the proposal.
	The Social Work Practices pilot sought to test new social worker-led models of delivery, but did not specify specific ownership or governance arrangements. It is not possible to provide an authoritative answer to the question of how many were employee-owned partnerships.
	More information about the operation of Social Work Practice pilots is contained in the evaluation which is published on the GOV.UK website1 :
	1
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-work- practices-report-of-the-national-evaluation

Ombudsmen: Complaints

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the efficiency of (1) the Local Government Ombudsman, and (2) the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman, as a means of redress in relation to social care and health provision for children with special educational needs.

Lord Nash: The Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) investigates complaints about most local authority matters, including social care provision. The LGO’s 2012-13 annual report showed that 55 per cent of complaints received a decision within 13 weeks, 85 per cent within 26 weeks and 97 per cent within 12 month1.
	The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) investigates complaints that individuals have been treated unfairly or have received poor service from Government Departments and other public organisations and the NHS in England. PHSO’s latest annual report shows that the average time taken to investigate complaints was reduced from 317 days in 2012-13 to 357 days in 2011-12ii.
	LGO and PSHO can work collaboratively on complaints which are relevant to their two jurisdictions.
	i www.lgo.org.uk/publications/annual-report/.
	ii www.ombudsman.org.uk/

Agriculture: Pesticides

Lord Willoughby de Broke: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the suspension of the use of neonicotinoid pesticides by the European Union.

Lord De Mauley: The restrictions put in place by the European Commission ban a number of uses of three neonicotinoids. These restrictions will be reviewed in 2015.
	The Government, like those of a number of EU member states, considers that the scientific evidence does not support the restrictions. Our current assessment of the evidence suggests that, while we cannot exclude effects of neonicotinoids on bees in the field, effects on bees are not likely to occur under normal circumstances. Therefore, the current evidence suggests that the risk to bee populations from neonicotinoids, when used correctly, is low.
	We do not agree with the methods used by the European Commission to reach a different conclusion, based on a new risk assessment scheme that has yet to be agreed and implemented. Given our assessment that the risk to bee populations is low, we do not consider that the Commission's response is sensible or proportionate. It will impose significant costs on some farmers and growers without benefiting bees and other pollinators.

Agriculture: Wheat

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they reconcile the figures given for the annual average price of feed wheat in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2009 in the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 2 December 2010 (WA 480) and the figures for the same years given in the Written Answer by Lord De Mauley on 15 July (WA 77).

Lord De Mauley: The feed wheat prices provided by Lord Henley on 2 December 2010 (WA 480) were based on a straight average of the weekly corn return prices recorded for each year; a proportion of the corns returns data covering just fixed price contracts for traded grain is used. These weekly data are available from the link below and prices calculated based on this source remain unchanged.
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/commodity-prices
	The feed wheat prices provided in my answer of 15 July (WA 77) use the corn returns data but take into account a wider range of prices other than just grain which is traded under fixed price contracts. The annual prices are also weighted based on tonnages sold, so these price data use a more sophisticated methodology taking into account a wider range of data. This approach was introduced for 2007 when prices increased substantially through the season to try to take better account of forward selling of grain. These prices are published in Agriculture in the United Kingdom in Table 7.1.
	https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-environment-food-rural-affairs/series/agriculture-in-the-united-kingdom#statistical-data-sets
	For most years, the annual feed wheat prices are similar or even the same. The bigger differences occur in years where there were major movements in cereal prices during the season, notably 2007 and 2008 where forward buying has more of an impact.

Alcohol: English Wine

Lord Ashcroft: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their policy on buying and promoting English wine.

Lord De Mauley: The high quality of English and Welsh still and sparkling wine means that demand for our wine regularly outstrips supply. Although promotion can be supported under the EU wine programme, the industry does not consider this to be a priority at this stage. Instead, EU support has been channelled via the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE), which currently provides a bespoke training programme for the sector (Wineskills). It includes advice on aspects of promotion such as brand building and marketing.
	We have recently secured places for two wine producers to represent the UK on an EU Speciality Food Trade Mission to Japan and South Korea in November. Our wine producers are already starting to exploit both markets and our attendance on this mission will help to boost our trade links further with this region.
	Government Hospitality, within the Protocol Directorate of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, is responsible for the management of the Government wine cellar and has supported the UK wine industry for over 20 years through regularly buying and using UK wines.

Charity Commission

Baroness Jolly: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the Charity Commission about the future of The National Fund; what options for the future of the Fund, specifically including the possibility of its early application to reduce the national debt, have been considered and (1) dismissed, or (2) remain under consideration; and when any decision is expected to be made.

Lord Wallace of Tankerness: There has been correspondence between the Charity Commission, the trustees and the Attorney General's Office over the National Fund.
	The Fund is operated in accordance with its rules and section 9 of the Superannuation and Other Trust Funds (Validation) Act 1927. It is accumulating as the original donors intended.
	Options are being considered for the future of the Fund, consistent with its object of extinguishing or reducing the national debt. These include a possible application to the court for directions. Whilst this work is on-going, it would not be appropriate to comment further. It is expected that a decision will be made later this year.

Employment: Pay

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty’s Government , further to the Written Answer by Lord Wallace of Saltaire on 22 July (WA 165), what proportion of jobs in (1) the lowest pay decile, and (2) the highest pay quintile, are paid (a) weekly, (b) fortnightly, (c) four weekly, and (d) monthly.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, Director General for ONS, to Baroness Lister, dated August 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Wallace of Saltaire on 22 July (WA 165), what proportion of jobs in (1) the lowest pay decile, and (2) the highest pay quintile. are paid (a) weekly, (b) fortnightly, (c) four weekly, and (d) monthly. (HL2052)
	The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), carried out in April each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. Weekly levels of earnings are estimated from ASHE, and are provided for employees on adult rates of pay, whose earnings for the survey pay period were not affected by absence ASHE also collects information about employees' pay periods.
	I attach a table showing the proportion of jobs with weekly, fortnightly, four weekly and monthly pay periods for jobs in the lowest pay decile and the highest pay quintile in April 2012, the latest period for which results are available.
	Figures for all employees include full-time jobs and part-time jobs. The bottom decile contains a much higher proportion of part-time jobs than the highest quintile, meaning that comparisons between these sectors of the earnings distribution need careful interpretation. For this reason, figures have also been provided separately for full-time jobs.
	
		
			 Proportion of jobsa in the lowest pay decileb and highest pay quintileb with weekly, fortnightly, four weekly and monthly pay periods in April 2012. 
			  All Employees Full-time employees 
			 Pay period Per cent of bottom decilec Per cent of top quintiled Per cent of bottom decilee Per cent of top quintilef 
			 Weekly 22.7 4.3 30.6 3.4 
			 Two weeks 6.8 0.3 4.3 0.3 
			 Four weeks 17.2 4.3 14.3 4.2 
			 Month 53.4 91.1 50.8 92.1 
		
	
	Notes:
	a. Employees on adult rates whose pay for the survey pay-period was not affected by absence.
	b. Earnings deciles are defined on the basis of gross weekly earnings. ASHE data for jobs that do not have weekly pay periods are converted into weekly figures.
	c. Employees in the bottom decile have gross weekly earnings of less than £120.30.
	d. Employees in the top quintile have gross weekly earnings of at least £692.10.
	e. Employees in the bottom decile have gross weekly earnings of less than £281.90.
	f. Employees in the top quintile have gross weekly earnings of at least £778.0.
	Source:
	Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), Office for National Statistics

Environment: Chinese Lanterns

Lord Christopher: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to ban Chinese lanterns; and whether they currently treat such lanterns as litter.

Lord De Mauley: There have been a number of recent representations to this Department on this issue. We recognise there are concerns about the potential risks posed by sky (Chinese) lanterns, and earlier this year, jointly with the Welsh Government, we commissioned an independent study to identify and assess the impacts and risks associated with them.
	Evidence from the report concluded that the contribution of sky lantern debris to overall environmental littering is small or highly localised.
	Any future action Government may take will need to be proportionate to the problem and backed by reliable evidence.

Environment: Ragwort

The Countess of Mar: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which department is responsible for enforcing the control of ragwort on land for which (1) the Department of Transport, (2) Railtrack, (3) local authorities, and (4) private landowners, are responsible; and what currently inhibits enforcement.

Lord De Mauley: Responsibility for the control of ragwort rests with the landowner or occupier in the first instance. A complainant concerned about the spread of ragwort, or any of the other injurious weeds specified in the Weeds Act, should contact the owner or occupier of the land in question to address the problem.
	If reasonable efforts are not made by those responsible, the complainant should contact Natural England which has been delegated responsibility for investigating complaints about ragwort and other injurious weeds and, where necessary, for taking the appropriate enforcement action. However, neither Natural England nor Defra have the resources to investigate all weeds complaints. In determining what follow up action is to be taken, priority is given to complaints involving possible spread to land being used for:
	Keeping or grazing horses and other livestock; Farmland used to produce conserved forage, and; Other agricultural land activities.
	In order to assist public bodies (along with other landowners and occupiers) in fulfilling their responsibilities, the Government amended the Weeds Act with the Ragwort Control Act 2003. This provided for a Code of Practice on preventing Ragwort spread. My colleague, Richard Benyon, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary
	of State wrote to land owning Public bodies and over 500 local authorities in February this year reminding them of their responsibilities under the Act and enclosing our Code of Practice.

Food: Horsemeat

The Earl of Courtown: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they have made in investigating the mis-labelling of horsemeat as beef.

Lord De Mauley: Investigations continue at a number of sites across the UK and the City of London Police is the co-ordinating Police Force for all of these investigations. The Food Standards Agency continues to liaise with the City of London police and through them is sharing information on UK investigations with Europol. Investigations are on-going in a number of European countries.

Marine Environment: Harbour Porpoise

Lord Hoyle: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will designate any special areas of conservation for the harbour porpoise in the United Kingdom.

Lord De Mauley: The UK has already submitted harbour porpoise as a qualifying feature of the Skerries and Causeway Special Area of Conservation (SAC) in Northern Ireland.
	The UK is continuing to work to identify other potential SACs for harbour porpoise, in accordance with its obligations under the EU Habitats Directive. An analysis of data for harbour porpoise in UK waters, with the aim of determining possible suitable sites for SAC designation, is due to report later this year. SAC designation in devolved administrations is a matter for the relevant administration.